Crude oil and many petroleum refinery streams contain sulfur-containing heterocyclic aromatic compounds (SCHACs), which are responsible for asset corrosion, poor fuel quality, health problems, and environmental problems. Therefore, refinery streams such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, kerosene, and heating oil must be treated to reduce sulfur content prior to final end use. Typically, such processing involves expensive high-pressure hydrogen, high-temperature operations, and significant capital investment as well as significant associated net greenhouse emissions (carbon footprint) to perform the necessary desulfurization.
For this purpose, CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP) has developed a new one-step hydrodesulfurization process. Crude oil from various sources and sulfur-containing streams from several refineries in India were tested; up to 90 percent of the sulfur content, depending on the specific nature of the stream being treated, can be removed by this process. The transformed sulfur compounds produced from SCHAC components by the CSIR-IIP process are readily separable from desulfurized crude or other refinery streams using a simple filtration process and offer promise in bulk applications such as road construction and coatings.
The easy, inexpensive process offers a potentially transformative low-carbon desulfurization solution for the bulk processing of oil streams at ambient pressures and moderate temperatures. It has the potential to change the current desulphurization configuration of crude oil and refinery streams in a cost-effective manner without the use of expensive hydrogen, especially for marine and industrial heating applications. Key patents have been filed internationally and additional filings are underway, including trademark protection. CSIR-IIP invites interested industries to partner on a non-exclusive basis for joint research, development, expansion and commercial deployment of the technology.
Established in 1960, CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum is one of the 37 laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, an autonomous corporation headed by the Honorable Prime Minister of India. CSIR-IIP develops and offers technologies, products and services aimed at reducing India’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, mitigating the environmental impact of the global oil and gas sector, and increasing efficiency, capacity building and thought leadership for the transition to a low-carbon energy sector across the board industries of energy producers and users.
