In the present work, H 2 S of crude oil was removed via a two-step method including stripping followed by adsorption. First, ZnO/MCM-41 adsorbents containing 5, 17.5 and 30 wt% of zinc were synthesized and characterized using XRD and nitrogen physisorption. Then, these materials were used as adsorbents for the removal of the H 2 S stripped from crude oil. At second step, the H 2 S of crude oil was extracted to gas phase by hot stripping. The obtained extract was collected in a storage tank for the subsequent H 2 S adsorption process. A threefactor Box-Behnken design with five center points and one response was performed for the optimization of adsorption of H 2 S. The influence of process parameters and their interactional effects on the adsorption of H 2 S were analyzed using the obtained adsorption experimental data. A model including three important factors, i.e., temperature, space velocity and amount of supported zinc and their interactions, was developed to generate the optimum condition. The point of Zn = 30 wt%, T = 300°C and space velocity = 3,000 h -1 had the optimum point with the highest break point time (t bp = 973 min).