Desulfurization of Kerosene by the Electrochemical Oxidation and Extraction Process

To meet the environmental requirements, kerosene, as the major component of jet fuel, is necessary for deep desulfurization. An electrochemical oxidation–extraction method was proposed to reduce the sulfur content in kerosene in this work. First, the electrochemical oxidation of kerosene was carried out in NaCl solution. Then, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) was used as an extractant to remove the oxidized organic sulfides. Gas chromatography–flame photometric detector (GC–FPD), gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and ion chromatography were used to determine 1-heptyl mercaptan, one of the main organic sulfides in kerosene, and its products after electrochemical oxidation. The results showed that 1-heptyl mercaptan was effectively oxidized to diheptyl disulfide, 1-heptanesulfonyl chloride, and sulfate in electrochemical oxidation and removed after extraction. After electrochemical oxidation–extraction, the sulfur content of kerosene decreased from 180.0 to 13.2 μg/g and the desulfurization efficiency reached 92.67%. By gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC–FID) analysis of kerosene, the electrochemical oxidation process has no impact on the properties of kerosene. On the basis of these experimental results, a mechanism of electrochemical oxidative desulfurization was proposed.