Influence of different hydrocarbon components in fuel on the oxidative desulfurisation of thiophene: Deactivation of catalyst

• Oxidation of thiophene in five different model fuels was studied using TS-1 as catalyst.
• Fresh and used catalysts were analyzed to confirm the deposition of hydrocarbons and sulfur.
• Five model fuels were prepared by mixing n-octane, benzene and cyclohexane with thiophene in iso-octane.
• A deactivation based kinetic model is proposed.

Oxidation of thiophene in five different model fuels was studied using TS-1 as catalyst and the influence of different hydrocarbon components in the model fuels on the oxidation and catalyst deactivation were observed in a batch process. The model fuels were prepared by dissolving thiophene at a particular concentration in iso-octane and then adding different types of hydrocarbons such as, a naphthene, a paraffin, an alkane and an aromatic one by one into the basic model fuel. Fresh as well as used catalysts were analyzed in BET, FTIR, XPS and EDS to confirm the deposition of different hydrocarbons as well as sulfur on the catalyst surface. The effects of different process variables on the reaction under catalyst deactivation were noted. Deactivation kinetics for the catalytic reaction was proposed including evaluation of process parameters at different temperatures. The activation energy of the reaction with deactivation of catalyst was found to be 19.13 kJ/mol.