Mechanism of sulfur removal from high sulfur coal by visible light assisted oxidation system

Abstract

ABSTRACT In order to investigate the effect of visible light irradiation on oxidative desulfurization. Three kinds of coals (SM, YYH and GZ) and four sulfur model compounds were selected as research objects. The effects of different irradiation time (30, 60, 90 and 120 min) and light source power (150, 220 and 300 W) of coal desulfurization were investigated. The samples before and after desulfurization were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results show that when coal:H2O2 = 1:5 (g:mL), light source power is 220 W and irradiation is 60 min, the desulfurization rate of SM, YYH and GZ can reach the maximum, which were 27.97%, 56.28% and 66.22%, respectively. According to the characterization of samples before and after desulfurization, it was found that the low-valence sulfur changes into the high-valence sulfur with a more stable structure through a certain transition state during the desulfurization process. Coal responds to visible light, which can promote the generation of electron–hole pairs in the system, so as to enhance the oxidative desulfurization ability of the system. Visible light irradiation can promote the production of strong oxidation active group HO·, thereby improving the desulfurization rate of coal.