A novel desulfurization process for fuel oils based on the formation and subsequent precipitation of S-alkylsulfonium salts. 2. Catalytic-cracked gasoline

A desulfurization process, based on the formation and subsequent precipitat ion of S-alkylsulfonium salts using alkylating agents (CH3I and AgBF4), has been applied to the desulfurization of catalytic-cracked gasoline (CCG). T he desulfurization reactivity of each sulfur compound (thiol, disulfide, be nzothiophene, tetrahydrothiophene, and thiophenes) in n-decane solution, as a model gasoline, was compared with that obtained from actual CCG. The sul fur compounds in CCG are methylated by the addition of the alkylating agent s under moderate conditions and are removed as the precipitates of the corr esponding S-alkylsulfonium salts. By employing this new process, the sulfur content of the CCG was decreased from 100 ppm to less than 30 ppm. The ben zothiophene in CCG was found to be the most difficult compound to desulfuri ze, whereas the thiophenes were the most difficult compounds for the model gasoline. Although the olefin concentration was decreased significantly fol lowing desulfurization, the resulting CCG demonstrated as high an octane nu mber as the feed CCG. The results thus suggest that the proposed process is satisfactory for application to the desulfurization of CCG.