Column Desulfurization from Hydrodesulfurization-Treated Gasoline Using Ce(IV)-Loaded Y-Zeolite Adsorbent

Abstract

This paper reports removals of organic sulfur compounds and H2S by a column process from a simulated gasoline solution and a real hydrodesulfurization (HDS)-treated gasoline with low sulfur contents (< 5 ppm). In this process, a Ce(IV)-loaded Y-zeolite (CeY-S) was used as the adsorbent for the removals of thiophene from the simulated gasoline solution and the sulfur compounds from the HDS-treated gasoline. The CeY-S adsorbent shows strong adsorption abilities of various organic sulfur compounds and H2S in the real HDS-treated gasoline. A granulated CeY-S adsorbent was developed for the column desulfurization process. The higher adsorption temperature is preferred for the effective removal of the sulfur compounds with the granulated adsorbent, which increases the rate of the adsorption reaction. The granulated CeY-S adsorbent column can desulfurize 66 times of its bed volume of the real HDS-treated gasoline from the sulfur content of 1.67 ppm to 0.1 ppm. A thiophene adsorption-desorption cycle experiment indicates that after the sulfur adsorption, the CeY-S adsorbent can be regenerated by calcination treatment in air above 450°C, and the structure of CeY-S adsorbent is stable in the repetition adsorption-desorption cycle.