Abstract
ABSTRACT Vermiculite clay was modified with calcium oxide in order to remove Dibenzothiophene (DBT) and Benzothiophene (BT) from Model Fuels (1:1 volume mixture of decane and hexadecane). Composite was prepared with a wetness impregnation method. The physicochemical properties of these adsorbents were characterised using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), field-scattering scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transient electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The vermiculite-calcium oxide (VE-Ca) composite showed the highest adsorption capacity at an initial concentration of 30 mg/L, adsorbent dose of 120 mg, and contact time of 120 min at 25°C. The highest adsorption capacity for DBT and BT was 85.37 mg.g−1 and 93.7 mg.g−1 on VE-Ca composite, respectively. The adsorption equilibrium data were fitted to pseudo-second order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models. The results showed the presence of calcium due to complexation between Ca2+ and thiophenic aromatic rings and chemical bonding between metals and sulphur which would improve the adsorption capacity for desulphurisation.
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