Abstract: Four kinds of antioxidants were selected to investigate the effect on the thermal stability of sulfolane. The quantity of sulfur dioxide release was taken as the comparison index. The results show that all antioxidants chosen are effective for improving the thermal stability of sulfolane and that the influence order of the four antioxidants on the thermal stability of sulfolane is phenolic antioxidant ＞ amine antioxidant ＞ sulfur containing antioxidant ＞ copper containing antioxidant. The phenolic antioxidant has the best effect when the addition amount of this antioxidant is 0.12g.

Key words: sulfolane, antioxidant, thermal stability