A new efficient and environmentally friendly approach using ferrate (Fe (VI)) and SO42−/-Al2O3solid super-acid catalyst was proposed for deep oxidative desulfurization in this work.Fe (VI) was produced via electrolyzing of scrap iron as an affordable industrial feed. TheSO42−/-Al2O3catalysts were synthesized by impregnation method and then characterizedby XRF, XRD, BET, N2-adsorption desorption, SEM-EDX, FTIR, and NH3-TPD analysis. Rel-atively, impacts of reaction temperature and tetra butyl ammonium chloride (TBAC) as amass transfer agent on dibenzothiophene (DBT) oxidation ability of ferrate, was positive;however, a very more significant promotion in the ferrate performance was achieved usingthe SO42−/-Al2O3catalyst. It can be interpreted that acidic sites of this catalyst were benefi-cial for generating protonated ferrates as strong oxidant reagents. However, a high amountof sulfuric acid concentration during impregnation, was not in favor of its catalytic effects.It led to aggregation of sulfate over the catalyst surface which induced a low dispersionand decreased acidic sites. The best efficiency of DBT elimination by ferrate was found tobe 91.7% at temperature of 40◦C by 0.2 g/mL of SO42−/-Al2O3catalyst at 3 wt.% S loading.Accumulations of impurities on the catalyst during ODS reaction caused a slight reductionin the catalyst performance after 4 consecutive recycling.
