Ultrasound Technology for Desulfurization of Crude Oil

Iranian crude oil with high sulfur content should be desulfurized before applicatiom. Because of high percentage of sulfur in crude oil, sulfur gases are produced and polluted the environment and ultimately can cause problems during processing. Therefore, in this study the ultrasound process has been applied for the removal of sulfur from sour crude oil of Darkhovein. This method is actually a combination of oxidation and applying ultrasonic waves to achieve very low sulfur content in crude oil. In this paper, the influence of ultrasonic radiation duration, oxidant materials, type of solvent in extraction process, and type of organic acids were examined. At condition of ultrasound of 24 KHz/400 W with amplitude of 70% by using of acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide, and extraction with methanol, the sulfur removal efficiency reached to 93% in 20 minutes.