Equilibrium and kinetic modeling of adsorptive sulfur removal from gasoline by synthesized Ce–Y zeolite

Abstract

In this research, the adsorption of a model sulfur compound, thiophene, from a simulated gasoline onto Ce–Y zeolite in pellet and powder forms was investigated. For this purpose, zeolite Na–Y was synthesized, and Ce–Y zeolite was prepared via solid-state ion-exchanged (SSIE) method. Adsorptive desulfurization of model gasoline was conducted in a batch reactor at ambient conditions to evaluate the equilibrium and kinetics of thiophene adsorption onto Ce–Y zeolite. The equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuire and Toth models. Pseudo-n-order and modified n-order models, LDF-base model, and intra-particle diffusion model were evaluated to fit the kinetic of the adsorption process and to determine the mechanism of it. The corresponding parameters and/or correlation coefficients of each model were reported. The LDF-base model was used also to fit the mass transfer coefficient for both powder and pellet forms of the adsorbent. The best fit estimates for the mass transfer coefficient were obtained 4×10−11m/s and k=3.1×10−12[exp(−t/τ)+1/(t+10−4)], for powder and pellet form adsorbents, respectively.