Oxidative desulfurization of model and real petroleum distillates using Cu or Ni impregnated banana peels derived activated carbon-NaClO catalyst-oxidant system

Sulfur compounds in transportation fuels upon burning lead to serious environmental pollution and hence their immediate removal from fuel oils requires urgent attention. Herein, we report the catalytic oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of model and real petroleum distillates using sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) as oxidant over Cu and Ni (1 wt.% each) loaded activated carbon (AC) (derived from banana peels) via carbonization followed by thermal activation. The fresh and post-reaction catalysts were characterized by FTIR, SEM, EDX and BET surface area analyses. Catalytic ODS experiments revealed that at O/S molar ratio of 1:6 and 0.2 g catalyst dosage, a net DBT conversion of 93% within 10 min and 30 ?degrees C was achieved by Ni/AC-NaClO catalyst oxidant system. The overall ODS catalytic activity order for different catalysts was: Ni/AC > Cu/AC > AC, while in addition to outstanding performance, Ni/AC catalyst exhibited intriguing stability and recycling performance for five successive reuses. In addition, under the optimized experimental conditions, Ni/AC-NaClO system showed 83%, 90% and 87% total sulfur removal from gasoline, kerosene and diesel oils respectively, outclassing some state-of-the-art catalysts reported. This fascinating performance of Ni/AC-NaClO system was mainly attributed to the presence of super-strong oxidizing species of hypochlorite (OCl-) generated from the dissociation of NaClO over the catalyst surface. These findings credit the newly designed, highly cost-effective and efficient Ni/AC-NaClO catalyst-oxidant system as a promising contender for the desulfurization of petroleum distillates on industrial level.(c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.