Deep removal of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene from model transportation diesel fuels over reactive adsorbent

This paper presents a new reactive adsorbent used to effectively remove 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) from model transportation diesel fuels. This reactive adsorbent was composed of formaldehyde, phosphotungstic acid and mesoporous silica gel. The experiment was based on an assumed condensation reaction of 4,6-DMDBT with formaldehyde using phosphotungstic acid as catalyst in pore spaces. The effect of temperature and the amount of formaldehyde and phosphotungstic acid loaded on the substrate were investigated in a batch system. In the breakthrough experiment, three different model d...