Petroleum Fuel Upgrading

Crude oil contains many toxic sulfur compounds that must be removed to ensure that crude oil-derived petroleum fuels comply with current environmental regulations. High-amplitude ultrasound-assisted oxidative desulfurization is an effective alternative technology to traditional sulfur removal by hydrotreating, allowing the process to be carried out under milder conditions, faster, safer and much more economically.

Burning petroleum fuels (e.g., in power boilers, marine and truck diesel engines) produces many greenhouse gasses and pollutants (nitrous oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, black smoke, etc.), harming human health and the environment. Nano-emulsifying a small amount of water into the fuels significantly reduces these harmful emissions by lowering the local flame temperature and making the fuels burn more completely. The resulting emulsion fuels have greater combustion efficiency and can be used in unmodified boilers or engines.

Petroleum jet fuel is used to cool various engine and airframe components in commercial and military aircraft. If dissolved oxygen is present in the thermally stressed fuel, deposits are formed in various vital aircraft devices (fuel system actuators, injectors, nozzles, spray bars, fuel lines), obstructing the flow and potentially causing catastrophic failure of the fuel system. The removal of dissolved oxygen from the fuel by ultrasonic degassing makes it thermally stable and prevents the formation of these deposits.