Liquid phase desulfurization of jet fuel by a combined pervaporation and adsorption process

Since the conventional hydrodesulfurization process employed in the refinery industry is not suitable for mobile fuel cell applications (e.g. auxiliary power units, APUs), the present study aims at developing an alternative process and determining its technical feasibility. A large number of processes were assessed with respect to their application in fuel cell APUs. The results revealed that a two-step process combining pervaporation and adsorption is a suitable process for the on-board desulfurization of jet fuel. Therefore, a pervaporation process with subsequent adsorption was selected for detailed investigation. Six different membrane materials and ten sorbent materials were screened to choose the most suitable candidates. Further laboratory experiments were conducted to optimize the operating conditions and to collect data for a pilot plant design. Different jet fuel qualities with up to 1675 ppmw of sulfur can be desulfurized to a level of 10 ppmw. The aim of developing a suitable process for the desulfurization of jet fuel in fuel cell APUs was thus achieved.