Over the past decades, the desulfurization
of fuel oils has been
known as one of the most challenging processes in petroleum refineries
due to economic considerations. The presence of sulfur compounds results
in SO
x
emissions, detrimentally affecting
the equipment of refineries, the environment, and human health. In
this direction, the unique features of ionic liquids have introduced
them as a beneficial alternative for conventional desulfurization
of fuel oils using traditional organic solvents. In this review, we
aim to study ionic liquids used in different desulfurization processes
of fuel oils, including hydrodesulfurization (HDS), oxidative desulfurization
(ODS), extractive desulfurization (EDS), extraction combined with
oxidation desulfurization (EODS), extractive and catalytic oxidative
desulfurization (ECODS), and liquid–liquid extraction (LLE).
Furthermore, governing factors, including temperature, mixing time,
reusability of ionic liquids, stirring speed, sulfur structure nature,
and molar and mass ratios of oxidants, ionic liquids, and catalysts,
have been reviewed in detail.
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