Solvent evaluation for desulfurization and denitrification of gas oil using performance and industrial usability indices

Abstract

A new strategy for screening of solvents for sulfur, nitrogen, and aromatic compounds removal from gas oil is presented. This ranking is based on comparative assessment of solvents’ capacity, selectivity, performance, and newly defined industrial usability indices. Twenty eight solvents comprising of six most widely used industrially proven conventional solvents and 22 imidazolium‐based ionic liquids solvents were selected to illustrate the strategy. The solvents were ranked for removal of sulfur compounds namely benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene and their alkylated derivatives, and nitrogenous compounds namely quinoline, indole and carbazole from gas oil. Performance index (P I ) which combines the effect of both capacity and selectivity seems to be better index than individual capacity and selectivity indices to rank the solvents. Industrial usability index (S IUI ) of solvents which includes P I and process complexity factor for solvent recovery section seems more practical and realistic criteria for solvent assessment. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 2257–2267, 2015