| The oxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) to dibenzothiophene-sulfone has been considered as an alternate method to remove sulfur from crude oil. This study demonstrates that the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of DBT to DBT-sulfone occurs using WO3 as a catalyst. WO3 was synthesized and characterized using X-ray diffraction to determine the phase of WO 3. Each reaction was refluxed and run for four hours using WO3 as a catalyst, dibenzothiphene, and four different solvents: decahydronapthalene, n-dodecane, decalin, and dodecane. The reactions were performed at temperatures ranging from 120°C to 150°C. Aliquots were taken at 30 minutes for up to four hours to determine the reaction kinetics. A stoichiometry study was performed by using mole ratios DBT-WO3. These mole ratios were 1:1, 1:0.75, 1:0.50, 1:0.25, 1:0.10, and 1:0.05. The disappearance of DBT was followed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. In addition, the identity of the reaction product was confirmed with FT-IR and Raman Spectrocopy. |
