Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, Vol.45, No.11, 47-50, 2006
Raney nickel for the desulphurization of FCC gasoline
This study is being performed as part of a graduate thesis project at the University of Northern British Columbia. We are attempting to develop an alternative method for removing sulphur compounds from the fluid catalytically cracked stream of gasoline (FCC gasoline). As of January 1, 2005, Canada developed new regulations for the amount of total sulphur in fuel, thereby limiting the total sulphur to 30 ppmw. This paper reports on our work using Raney nickel for the removal of sulphur-containing compounds from FCC gasoline. Raney nickel is activated with an alkaline solution, then reacted with the FCC gasoline to form a nickel sulfide precipitate. Simply by varying the reaction time, a maximum reduction of 80% sulphur concentration can be seen at 60 min. Similarly, by varying the temperature, a maximum reduction of 99% sulphur concentration was obtained at a reaction temperature of 50 degrees C. Finally, sequential reaction experiments indicated a maximum reduction in sulphur concentration of 97% in the treated FCC gasoline using two consecutive additions of Raney nickel. These reactions are being performed on a laboratory scale but indicate that Raney nickel is very effective at removing sulphur from FCC gasoline.