The possibility to fulfill the increasing market demand and producers' needs in processing crude oil, a cheap and universally available feedstock, to produce petrochemicals appears to be a very attractive strategy. Indeed, many petrochemicals are produced as side streams during crude oil refining, which primary goal remains transportation fuel production. Availability of some critical feedstocks may then depend on local refining policy. In order to improve flexibility, it has been proposed to directly crack crude oil to produce petrochemicals, in particular light olefins (ethylene, propylene, butenes), using technologies derived from fluid catalytic cracking. This paper attempts to review the main research works done on the topic in the literature in the last five decades, focussing on process as well as catalyst technology, with a special interest for fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) based technology that can be used towards maximizing chemicals from crude oil. Factors investigated include use of severe cracking conditions, on-purpose additives (from ZSM5 to more exotic, metal doped additives), recycle streams and multiple riser systems.

An effective gas-phase oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process was proposed. The process was studied in a laboratory reactor with a proprietary catalyst at 300-400 ºС and ambient pressure with model fuels represented by thiophene, dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (DMDBT) dissolved in octane, isooctane or toluene. The reactivity of different sulfur containing molecules in ODS was shown to increase in the sequence: thiophene < DBT < DMDBT. The main sulfur containing product of oxidation of these compounds was SO2. During the gas-phase ODS both processes of sulfur species oxidation and processes of their adsorption were observed and studied. Based on the conducted studies, different ODS process designs comprising its integration with adsorption and regeneration processes and with conventional hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process were proposed. One scheme is based on alternating regimes of ODS and catalyst regeneration in two reactors: sulfur is removed from organic feedstock by oxidation and adsorption in one reactor while simultaneous regeneration of the catalyst that has accumulated sulfur compounds takes place in another reactor. Two other schemes are based on joint use of ODS and HDS. The conventional HDS process is most effective for removal of low-boiling sulfur containing compounds reactive with respect to hydrogen, while removal of refractory sulfur compounds, such as DMDBT is more easily achieved by gas phase ODS. Thus the combination of these processes is expected to be most efficient for deep desulfurization of diesel fuel.

Изучена возможность окислительной десульфуризации дибензотиофена, растворенного в толуоле, как модельного сероорганического соединения дизельного топлива, в присутствии каталитических CuZnAl-композиций. Показано, что CuZnAl-катализаторы при 350–430°C обеспечивают удаление серы из модельного топлива до 40–45%, причем часть серы удаляется в виде SO2, а часть адсорбируется на поверхности катализатора.

The possibility of oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene dissolved in toluene as a model organosulfur compound of diesel fuel in the presence of catalytic CuZnAl compositions was studied. It was shown that the CuZnAl catalysts at 350–450°C ensure sulfur removal from the model fuel to the extent of up to 40–45%. Part of the sulfur is removed as SO2, and some sulfur is absorbed on the catalyst surface.

New requirements for very low sulfur content (10 ppm) in liquid motor fuels demand novel approaches for ultra-deep desulfurization. For production of near-zero-sulfur diesel and low-sulfur fuel oil, removal of refractory sulfur compounds, like 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene and other alkyl-substituted thiophene derivatives, is necessary. Elimination of these compounds by hydrodesulfurization (HDS) requires high hydrogen consumption, high pressure equipment, and new catalysts. Various oxidative desulfurization processes, including recent advances in this field for diesel fuels, and the drawbacks of this technology in comparison with HDS are examined and discussed. It is shown that the oxidation of sulfur compounds to sulfones with hydrogen peroxide allows for production of diesel fuels with a sulfur content of 10 ppmw or lower at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The gas phase oxidative desulfurization of sulfur compounds with air or oxygen is feasible at atmospheric pressure and higher temperatures: 90–300 °С and offers better economic solutions and incentives.