Development of Robust Fuel Flexible Desulfurization Systems for Clean Power Solutions

Sponsor: MesoFuel, Inc.

• Project Performance Period: 11/1/2007 - 10/31/2010
• Total project (est.): $5,803,345.00
• Requested ATP funds: $1,999,988.00

The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 25 percent of the world's population is exposed to unhealthy concentrations of air pollutants. Sulfur pollutants from petroleum-based fuels are emitted primarily by electric utilities, but also by industrial facilities and transportation equipment such as locomotives, large ships and large off-road equipment. The current technology for removing sulfur from petroleum fuels at the refinery is both capital and energy intensive and has difficulty producing extremely low-sulfur fuel for current emission-control levels, much less the proposed and pending sulfur emission levels. Adding to the problem is the trend toward using heavier, higher sulfur-content petroleum reserves. MesoFuel has proposed developing a suite of technologies for compact, efficient and scalable desulfurization of a wide range of distillate fuels at the point of use. Their approach would provide on-demand low-sulfur fuels tailored to the specific use. Their approach centers on three high-risk technologies: nanofiltration using new membrane technology to generate low-sulfur fuel from bunker oil without fouling or plugging the membrane; pervaporization (membrane-based distillation) of marine distillate fuel oils to obtain low-sulfur fuel streams onboard ships for use near ports; and oxidative desulfurization of both heavy fuel oils and distillate fuels that is not catalyst based and could be used for cold start-ups of engines. If successful, MesoFuel's novel point-of-use desulfurization technologies could significantly reduce sulfur pollution both in traditional markets such as power generation and large ships as well as emerging markets such as fuel cells, with significant benefits for both the environment and human health.

For project information:

W. Doyle Miller, (505) 314-8160
doyle.miller@mesofuel.com

ATP Project Manager

Richard Bartholomew, (301) 975-4786
richard.bartholomew@nist.gov