Removal of hydrogen sulfide on activated carbon supported ionic liquids

Abstract

In this study, ionic liquid loaded activated carbon was applied as the adsorbent for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal under the anaerobic conditions in a fixed bed. The effects of activated carbon substrate, ionic liquid, initial H2S concentration and flow rate on the adsorption process were systematically studied. The experimental results show that the activated carbon named AC-1 having higher surface area and micropore volume is more suitable as the support for ionic liquid. Amongst three ionic liquids studied, the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate loaded activated carbon exhibites the highest H2S sorption capacity performance. As a results of the superior performance of the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate loaded activated carbon, further tests and characterizations were performed on the sorbent. The breakthrough capacity of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate sorbent is two times greater than pure activated carbon. In addition, it is confirmed that increasing H2S concentration enhances H2S adsorption capacity, and the adsorption capacity of H2S decreases significantly with increasing gas flow rate.