Separation of Sulfur Compounds from Petroleum

Molecular Composition of Photooxidation Products Derived from Sulfur-Containing Compounds Isolated from Petroleum Samples

“…Thiophenic species are the most abundant type of sulfur in petroleum and have been shown to be nonreactive/noncorrosive in refinery operations; they are extremely stable structures, which persist throughout geologic time and survive thermal/catalytic refinery processes. , Conversely, sulfides/disulfides comprise a smaller mass fraction of sulfur-containing species in crude oil, but are much more reactive and corrosive than their thiophenic counterparts. , Moreover, sulfoxides have been detected in crude oils by positive-ion (+) electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR MS), but were shown to comprise a very small percent of the total sulfur in petroleum . Sulfur content and functionality are especially of interest to refinery/production strategies because governmental regulations limit their concentrations in commercial products to protect the environment and public health, and there are many methods to isolate sulfur species from petroleum. − In line with these concerns, sulfur chemistry is crucial for understanding the formation of water-soluble species through photooxidation of oil spills (fate), as well as environmental consequences (impact). Correspondingly, a study involving photoirradiation of various benzothiophene model compounds along with a high-sulfur crude oil demonstrated that water-soluble sulfur-containing acidic species are produced from photooxidation .…”

Identification of Low-Boiling Sulfur Compounds in Agha Jari Crude Oil by Gas-Liquid Chromatography

“…A comparison with similar data from other crude oils may shed some light on the origin of petroleum and of the sulfur compounds found in it. Earlier publications (2,8,9) from this laboratory have reported the separation and identification of sulfur compounds in Wasson, Tex., and Wilmington, Calif., crude oils using such techniques as isothermal distillation, adsorption, fractionation, and infrared and mass spectrometry. Although these procedures are reliable, many of the steps are time-consuming, and relatively large quantities of crude oil must be processed to produce enough final sulfur compound concentrate for fractionation and subsequent identification of the components by mass or infrared spectrometry.…”

Desulfurization of Gasoline

“…The distribution of sulfur-containing components in untreated distillate is shown in Figure 2 (10). Note that sulfur impurities tend to be concentrated in the heavier fractions during crude oil distillation.…”

“…Train stated that one year's production of catalyst-equipped cars could be tolerated without endangering public health. Subsequent written statements by EPA to the Committee indicated that, according to calculations based on atmospheric models, two years' production of catalystequipped cars could produce localized concentrations of airborne sulfates in excess of the [8][9][10] fAg/m3 level which has tentatively been judged to be the "safe" level (7).…”