Extraction of dibenzothiophene from dodecane using ionic liquids

The effect of ionic liquid loading, extraction temperature, and extraction time in the removal of dibenzothiophene from dodecane were investigated. Eighteen (18) ionic liquids were screened for its dibenzothiophene extraction ability. Imidazolium based ionic liquids with thiocyanate, dicyanamide and octylsulfate anions exhibited the highest extraction capabilities with 66.1%, 66.1%, and 63.6% of extraction efficiency respectively. Tributylmethylammonium methylcarbonate ionic liquid gave 61.9% extraction efficiency, which showed that pi-pi interaction between aromatic rings of sulfur compound and ionic liquid (IL) was not be the main extraction mechanism. A trend between specific volume and desulfurization efficiency of ILs was put forward, enabling researchers to predict ILs' desulfurization efficiency from its specific volume. It was also found that [C(4)mim][SCN] can be reused in extraction without regeneration with considerable extraction efficiency of 41.9%. Huge saving on energy can be achieved if we make use of this IL behavior in process design, instead of regenerating IL after every time of extraction. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.