Desulfurization of commercial liquid fuels for fuel cell application is a mandatory process step in a fuel cell system. A new three-step desulfurization process characterized by fractional evaporation and subsequent hydrodesulfurization (HDS) in vaporous phase at moderate conditions (p = 0.4 MPa, T = 300 degrees C) was experimentally investigated. The results indicate that the fractional distillation reduces the sulfur compounds, above all high boiling sulfur compounds with a low reactivity. The distillate could be desulfurized in gas-phase reaction down to 1 ppm despite moderate reaction conditions. The new process is well-suited for fuel cell application in small scale.