Deep desulfurization performance of CuCl supported adsorbents

Selective adsorbents for deep desulfurization of fuel oil were prepared by supporting CuCl on alumina (γ-Al₂O₃), silica gel (SiO₂) and modified activated carbon (AC-H₂O₂), respectively. The adsorption of sulfur compound, thiophene, in an organic model solution for gasoline (isooctane with 0.5 mmol·L^-1 thiophene) was studied by a batch method under ambient conditions. The results of sulfur adsorption on porous materials, such as γ-Al₂O₃, SiO₂ and AC-H₂O₂, show that the adsorbents with polar and acid surfaces are preferable for sulfur adsorption. Through comparing the amounts of sulfur adsorbed by the adsorbents with various CuCl-loading amounts, the suitable CuCl-loading amounts for different supports were obtained. As sulfur adsorbent, the optimal CuCl-loading amounts found for different supports, such as the γ-Al₂O₃, SiO₂ and AC-H₂O₂ are 0.4 mg·m^-2, 0.21 mg·m^-2 and 0.5 mg·m^-2, respectively, and their corresponding sulfur adsorptive capacities are 9.7 ×10^-4 mg·m^-2, 2.9 × 10^-4 mg·m^-2 and 6.2 × 10^-4 mg·m^-2. The experiments also show that adding a little amount of rare earth compound CeO₂ onto the CuCl/γ-Al₂O₃ during the preparation of the adsorbent, the desulfurization ability of the adsorbent prepared can be increased about 17.5%.