Research Projects

Petroleum fuels contain sulfur and nitrogen compounds (SCCs and NCCs) that release toxic SOx and NOx during combustion. In 2016, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway issued a draft notification on the Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) standard of fuel quality, specifying the maximum permissible sulfur and nitrogen content of gasoline and diesel fuel at 10 and 15 ppmw, respectively. Oxidative desulfurization-denitrogenation (ODS-ODN) and extraction of oxidation products show promising prospects for obtaining ultra-low sulfur-nitrogen fuels. To successfully implement ODS-ODN processes, significant achievements are targeted to develop highly active and selective catalysts for the oxidation of SCCs and NCCs and find suitable extracting solvents. A proposed model for ODS-ODN consists of Titanium silicate-1 and Titanium-beta zeolites for simultaneous ODS-ODN of diesel-range SCCs and NCCs. The model fuel will consist of diesel-range sulfur compounds and nitrogen compounds in a diesel-range hydrocarbon. The reaction will be conducted at moderate temperatures and atmospheric pressure in batch mode in the reactor. The catalyst activity will be tested for each model fuel to understand kinetics and mass transfer limitations. The system will help establish an energy-optimized green process of low severity and low cost deep desulfurization-denitrogenation protocol for light petroleum fuels, particularly in response to the progressive depletion of good quality petroleum reserves and the refinement and usability of low-grade crude.

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