<p>With the increasing reliance on heavy crude oil, there is an urgent need to address its high sulfur content, due to its negative environmental impacts and operational difficulties in refining units. This study aims to develop an innovative industrial system consisting of a mixture of kerosene, nanoparticles of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) and zirconium oxide (ZrO₂), in addition to the surfactant SDBS, to enhance the desulfurization of heavy and sour crude oil extracted from the East Baghdad field. The treatments were carried out under the influence of ultrasound using an ultrasonic at a frequency of 20 kHz and a power of 500 W, at a temperature of 90&#xa0;°C for 75 min, while maintaining a solvent-to-oil ratio of 18% by volume. Experimental results demonstrated superior interaction performance of the composite system compared to using kerosene alone. Sulfur content was reduced from 4.4 to 0.35% using aluminum nanoparticles and to 0.4% using zirconium nanoparticles, achieving removal rates of 92% and 90%, respectively. Advanced analytical techniques such as TGA, XRD, AFM, SEM, and EDX were used to confirm the purity, thermal stability, and effective surface behavior of these nanoparticles. This improvement is attributed to the sulfur-reducing properties of kerosene, the high adsorption capacity of the nanoparticles, and the role of the surfactant in achieving a homogeneous distribution of particles within the treated medium. Furthermore, this study demonstrated the effectiveness of using ultrasound in enhancing the interaction between the system components and facilitating the transfer of sulfur from the oil phase to the solvent phase by improving particle fragmentation and increasing adsorption efficiency, making it a pivotal step in improving the performance of chemical processing of heavy oils.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>