Desulfurization of Model Oil using combined Cu/Ti02 Photocatalysis and BMImCu2Cl3 Ionic Liquid Extraction

This final year project is to develop a method for desulfurization from model oil.
This sulfur contents is considered a threat to the people and environment. This is because,
this sulfur species will be convertedto sulfur dioxide (S02) through the fuel combustion.
As we have known, a lot of problems associated with SO2. Conventional process to
remove sulfur from crude oil is hydrodesulfiirization (HDS). Although this is an efficient
method to remove sulfur, but it's required a lot of cost as well as energy. It has come to a
conclusion that photocatalysis and ionic liquid extraction can be an alternative solutions
that is environmental friendly, non-hydrogen intensive, and can be employed at low
temperature. Thus, the idea is to combine both methods for the desulfurization to achieve
high efficiency result.In this project, Cu doped Ti02is used as the photocatalyst This is
because, the limitations of a Ti02 as a photocatalyst for a particular use can be enhanced
by modifying the surface of the semiconductor. Plus, BMIMCu2C13 is used as the ionic
liquid. This project includes the preparation of the photocatalyst, preparation of ionic
liquids, preparation of model oil, characterization of thephotocatalyst, and the reaction of
desulfurization. The experimental results for desulfurization of model oil using CuTi02
photocatalyst with different percentage of copper loading and calcinations temperature,
and BMImCu2Cl3 ionic liquid show some definite trends. The UV-Vis test also has
showed that the photocatalyst active region from UV to visible light. 10 wt% of copper
doping shows better performance than 5 wt% of copper doping, and low calcination
temperature which is 200°C depicted better activity than 300°C. The sulfur removed for
combination of 10CuT200 photocatalyst and BMImCu2Cl3 ionic liquid is much higher
than using photocatalyst alone.