Heavy oil is a low-cost fuel and is extensively used in the industries, however, it contains high sulfur content, which creates serious environmental problems. Conventional hydrodesulfurization is not only a costly process, but also inadequate in the treatment of heavy distillate fractions, which contain high sulfur contents. In the current study, desulfurization of model oil and commercial oil samples containing high sulfur contents (1.2–5 wt %) were studied using air-assisted performic acid oxidation followed by solvent extraction. A series of different commercial oil samples, that is, untreated naphtha (UN), light gas oil (LGO), coker derived combined heavy gas oil (HGO) and Athabasca bitumen (At. Bit.) were subjected to desulfurization by only extraction and by oxidative desulfurization (ODS), that is, oxidation followed by extraction. Desulfurization yield was significantly enhanced with oxidation using air-assisted performic acid. In case of UN, LGO, HGO, and At. Bit., % desulfurization was increased from 25.1% to 61.7%, 26.8% to 63.4%, 23.5% to 47.2%, and 5% to 42.5%, respectively. Combined extraction by aq. acetonitrile (80%) followed by aq. methanol (80%) was found to be an efficient extraction system for ODS of commercial oil. Recovery yield of different commercial oil samples during the process was found to be in the range of 92–88%.
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