Adsorptive desulfurization of crude oil with nanomaterials

Crude oil, which consists of hydrocarbons, is the leading energy source consumed on a global scale. Sulfur is the most abundant element after carbon and hydrogen in the structure of crude oil. Sulfur and sulfur compounds in the structure of petroleum are dangerous for both the environment and human health due to the SOx gases they produce after combustion. Removing sulfur from oil is a costly and difficult process. Therefore, the sulfur content of crude oil has a direct effect on the price of oil. Although various methods are used for the removal of sulfur and sulfur compounds from petroleum (desulphurization), the most widely used process is HydroDeSulfurization (HDS). Apart from the HDS method, there are Biodesulfurization (BDS), Extraction, Oxidative Desulfurization (ODS), and Adsorptive Desulfurization (ADS) processes, which are becoming more and more popular day by day. In this thesis, the adsorptive desulfurization performance of graphene, graphene oxide, graphene oxide functionalized with gold nanoparticles, and graphene oxide functionalized with gold nanoparticles cross-linked with silver nanoparticles were investigated. The synthesized adsorbents were characterized by X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Transmissive Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), then 0,1 g, 0,2 g, 0,3 g, 0,4 g, and 0,5g adsorbents were taken separately and placed in a flask which includes 50mL crude oil. Then each flask was stirred at 400 rpm at ambient temperature for 60 minutes. After the reaction, the adsorbent was separated from the mixture with the help of a centrifuge and the residual sulfur amount was checked.