Effect of highly reactive sulfur species on sulfur reduction in cracking gasoline

Stringent regulations for engine fuels have stimulated R&D work for reducing sulfur in cracked naphtha in the recent years. In order to progress in this issue information on the effect of the chemistry of sulfur compounds under cracking conditions is needed. In this work, hexyl-2-thiol was spiked in a gasoil feed and the effect on sulfur in gasoline was studied with an equilibrium catalyst (Ecat) and a commercial gasoline sulfur reduction additive. Spiked feeds showed lower conversion. The hexyl-2-thiol mainly produced H2S and exhibited a competitive reaction with sulfur compounds contained in gasoil. Higher amounts of sulfur-in-coke were produced with the Ecat-additive blend compared to Ecat thus indicating that the hexyl-2-thiol adsorbs stronger on the additive which can be due to its Lewis acid properties. While the additive moderates the detrimental effect of hexyl-2-thiol on the catalyst activity its activity for sulfur reduction in gasoline was constrained.