Adsorption of Sulfur Compounds from Diesel with Ion-Impregnated Activated Carbons

Abstract

The adsorption of benzothiophene sulfone (BTO) and dibenzothiophene sulfone (DBTO) from model diesel fuel were evaluated using granular activated carbon (GAC) and modified activated carbon. Modified activated carbon was impregnated with metal ions, Cu 2+ , Fe 3+ , and Ni 2+ , and the effect on its adsorption characteristics was determined. Adsorption performance was investigated using batch process at room temperature and agitation speed of 120 rpm. Results indicated a significant increase in the adsorption capacity compared to that of the unmodified GAC. Increasing adsorption capacity followed the order Cu 2+ /AC < Ni 2+ /AC < Fe 3+ /AC for BTO, whereas for DBTO, increasing order is Ni 2+ /AC < Fe 3+ /AC < Cu 2+ /AC. Evaluation of equilibrium isotherms using Langmuir and Freundlich models yielded a good fit with values of R 2 > 0.90. Adsorption process seemed to proceed in a two-step process. First, a very fast rate for the first few minutes, then a markedly reduced rate until equilibrium is reached. All the adsorbents used have several functional groups present on its surface, and it is the nature of these surface groups that determine the character of these adsorbents.

Sulfur removal from model fuel by Zn impregnated retorted shale and with assistance of design of experiments

“…Different types of adsorbents, including zeolite (Bhandari et al 2006;Wang et al 2009a;Shi et al 2013), mesoporous silica (Kwon et al 2008;Li et al 2012;Teymouri et al 2013), activated charcoal (Wang and Yang 2007;Yu et al 2015b;Chen et al 2016), and metallic and organic structures (Blanco-Brieva et al 2011;Peralta et al 2012;Tian et al 2015) were used for the removal of sulfur compounds from model solutions or fuels.…”

Oxidative Desulfurization of Diesel Fuel Using a Brønsted Acidic Ionic Liquid Supported on Silica Gel

“…Although HDS can effectively remove thiols, sulfides, and disulfides from the fuels, it is less efficient in removing aromatic sulfur-containing compounds such as dibenzothiophene (DBT) and its derivatives. Moreover, requiring severe operating conditions such as high temperature and high hydrogen pressure is another disadvantage of this process. , Therefore, many other desulfurization methods having mild operations, e.g., biodesulfurization, , adsorption, − extraction, − and oxidative desulfurization (ODS), − have been studied. Oxidative desulfurization is regarded as one of the most promising methods in deep desulfurization of fuels under mild conditions.…”