Adsorption performance and mechanisms of mercaptans removal from gasoline oil using core-shell AC-based adsorbents

Bacterial Biological Factories Intended for the Desulfurization of Petroleum Products in Refineries

The removal of sulfur by deep hydrodesulfurization is expensive and environmentally unfriendly. Additionally, sulfur is not separated completely from heterocyclic poly-aromatic compounds. In nature, several microorganisms (Rhodococcus erythropolis IGTS8, Gordonia sp., Bacillus sp., Mycobacterium sp., Paenibacillus sp. A11-2 etc.) have been reported to remove sulfur from petroleum fractions. All these microbes remove sulfur from recalcitrant organosulfur compounds via the 4S pathway, showing potential for some organosulfur compounds only. Activity up to 100 µM/g dry cell weights is needed to meet the current demand for desulfurization. The present review describes the desulfurization capability of various microorganisms acting on several kinds of sulfur sources. Genetic engineering approaches on Gordonia sp. and other species have revealed a variety of good substrate ranges of desulfurization, both for aliphatic and aromatic organosulfur compounds. Whole genome sequence analysis and 4S pathway inhibition by a pTeR group inhibitor have also been discussed. Now, emphasis is being placed on how to commercialize the microbes for industrial-level applications by incorporating biodesulfurization into hydrodesulfurization systems. Thus, this review summarizes the potentialities of microbes for desulfurization of petroleum. The information included in this review could be useful for researchers as well as the economical commercialization of bacteria in petroleum industries.

Adsorption and photocatalytic conversion of ethyl mercaptan to diethyl disulfide on Fe2O3-loaded HNbMoO6 nanosheet

Ethyl mercaptans which commonly exist in natural gas need to be removed due to their toxic, odorous, and corrosive properties. Herein, a novel Fe₂O₃-modified HNbMoO₆ nanosheet catalyst (Fe₂O₃@e-HNbMoO₆) was prepared by an exfoliation-impregnation method for the ethyl mercaptans removal. In the heterojunction catalyst, e-HNbMoO₆ can be excited by visible light to generate the photogenic charge and has certain adsorption property for ethyl mercaptan with hydrogen bonding (Nb-OH or Mo-OH as the hydrogen bonding donor); Fe₂O₃ plays the role of accelerating photogenerated electrons and holes, and enhancing the adsorption of ethyl mercaptan with another hydrogen bonding (Fe-OH as the hydrogen bonding donor and receptor). Results showed that the adsorption capacity of Fe₂O₃@e-HNbMoO₆ is 69.9 μmol/g for ethyl mercaptan. In addition, the photocatalytic conversion efficiency of ethyl mercaptan to diethyl disulfide is nearly 100% and it is higher than that of the other Nb-Mo based photocatalysts, such as LiNbMoO₆, Fe_1/3NbMoO₆, Ce_1/3NbMoO₆, TiO₂-HNbMoO₆, e-HNbMoO₆, CeO₂@e-HNbMoO₆, and Ag₂O@e-HNbMoO₆. Under the experimental conditions, the photocatalytic conversion efficiency is greater than the adsorption efficiency over Fe₂O₃@e-HNbMoO₆, and there is no ethyl mercaptan output in the process of adsorption and photocatalytic conversion. Fe₂O₃@e-HNbMoO₆ heterojunction catalyst has practical value and reference significance for purifying methane gas and enhancing photocatalytic conversion of ethyl mercaptan.