(544d) Adsorptive Desulfurization of Diesel

Adsorptive desulfurization of liquid hydrocarbon fuels was studied using Carbon Aerogels as adsorbents to meet the worldwide public interest for cleaner air. A synthetic mixture of dibenbenzothiophene ( DBT) and n-hexadecane was used as a model for sulfur contaminated diesel fuel. The thermodynamics and dynamics of adsorption were investigated by the measurement of adsorption isotherms and concentration decay curves in batch mode. A theoretical model on the basis of solute movement theory was developed to investigate the role of physical properties of adsorbentson adsorptive capacity. For this purpose four different adsorbents were considered. The model results indicated that the void fraction of the adsorbents were the critical parameter in designing a large scale fixed bed adsorber for sulfur removal.