Performance Evaluation of Recyclability of Recovered 1-Butyl-3 Methylimidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids are found to be a great solution to remove sulfur from diesel fuels efficiently but they are usually expensive. Thus, for a cost effective sulfur removal process, the recovery and recycling of ionic liquids are necessary after desulfurization. However, little research on the recovery of ionic liquids has been conducted so far. Extensive research on the recyclability performance of the ionic liquids has been missed out as well. This study emphasized on the recovery of three BMIM based ionic liquids which are 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidozolium Thiocyanate - BMIM [SCN], 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidozolium Methylsulfate- BMIM [CH3SO4] and 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidozolium Dicyanamide- BMIM [N (CN) 2] after extraction of DBT from dodecane and on the performance evaluation of recyclability of those recovered ionic liquids. The model oil was observed each time before and after extraction. It was found that, it is possible to recover and reuse the ionic liquids after extraction up to 4 cycles, and 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidozolium Thiocyanate showed the highest extraction capability after recycling of 59.87% at the 4th cycle, whereas, 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidozolium Methylsulfate showed the least extraction capabilities of 18.64% at the 4th cycle. It was also possible to get performance efficiency up to 113.2% for BMIM-SCN after recovery and reuse at the 4th cycle. It is possible to achieve huge saving on cost and energy, if this ionic liquid behaviour can be used in process design, instead of using new ionic liquids for each extraction.