APPLICATION OF MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES FUNCTIONALIZED WITH IONIC LIQUIDS FOR THE REMOVAL OF AROMATIC SULFUR CONTAINING COMPOUNDS FROM GASOLINE

Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) poursaberit@ripi.ir during recent years some strict regulations are established to reduce the sulfur content of the fuels. Magnetic iron oxide nanotechnology has started a new trend which is more efficient and economic than the conventional methods. Herein, the magnetic removal of aromatic sulfur compounds from gasoline has been investigated. In the present work, a novel magnetic nanosorbent through surface modification by an ionic liquid was synthesized and characterized by XRD, TEM, and FTIR techniques. Effective parameters were optimized and studies were carried out on model oil and a real sample under optimal conditions. It was found that the supported ionic liquid was well efficient in the removal of aromatic sulfur containing compounds and was a promising sorbent in deep desulfurization treatments. The used sorbent could be regenerated through convenient magnetic decantation and stripping by carbon tetrachloride.