Hot Coal Gas Desulfurization Research Articles

Sheet-assembled Zn-based sorbents towards highly efficient desulfurization of hot coal gas: H2S-absorption/COS-release behavior and sulfur-release inhibiting mechanism

It is still challenging to obtain high-temperature sorbents with strong abilities of absorbing H2S and suppressing COS-release during coal-gas desulphurization process. Furthermore, the related inhibiting mechanism is unclear. Herein, functional Zn-based sorbents, with HTLCs (hydrotalcite-like compounds) as the precursor, were designed and fabricated via microwave-assisted co-precipitation method. Doping of metals (Mo/Ni/Co) with function of catalyzing COS-hydrogenolysis was proposed for sorbent modification. The resultant sorbents exhibit hierarchical structure self-assembled from nanosheets. As expected, Mo-, Ni-, and Co-doping result in significant decrease (by 78 %–85 %, 83 %–90 %, and 59 %–74 %, respectively) in the amount of released COS for sorbents. Moreover, Ni-doping generally causes the smallest negative effect on H2S-uptake behavior. It is related to a decline (by about 40 %) in the length of laminas unit and more porous structure of sorbents because of Ni-doping. Especially, the sorbent with the lowest Ni-doping ratio shows high sulfur capacity (27.1 g S/100 g sorbent, desulfurization efficiency: > 99.5 %) and low COS-release amount (1.5 × 10−3 g COS/100 g sorbent). More importantly, it also maintains relatively stable performance over successive sulfidation-regeneration cycles. In addition, the analysis of COS-hydrogenation behavior over individual components in desulfurizers reveals that the doped metals greatly accelerate the COS-hydrogenolysis reaction, responsible for less COS emission of modified sorbents.

Functionalized Zn-based desulfurizer with ordered mesoporous structure based on insights into sulfur-release mechanism during hot coal gas desulfurization

Sulfur-release effect impedes the engineering application of hot coal gas desulfurization. However, the related mechanism is not clear. This study aims to clarify the aforementioned effects and directionally design/fabricate ordered mesoporous Zn-based sorbents with function of inhibiting sulfur-release behavior. The results reveal that COS is mainly formed via R-1 (reaction between CO and H2S) before the reaction gas contacts Zn-based sorbents. R-2 (reaction between CO2 and H2S) catalyzed by ZnS is more kinetically favorable than its non-catalytic process. Furthermore, R-1 and R-2 contribute almost equally to the overall amount of released COS during desulfurization process. Then, considering the composition of coal gas, the strategy of promoter (with function of catalytic hydrogenolysis of COS) modification was proposed to inhibit sulfur-release behavior. A series of functionalized sorbents with four Zn/Me (Me: Mo, Ni) molar ratios (88:12–97:3) were constructed. The sorbents exhibit ordered pore-arrangement structure. Compared to unmodified sorbents, Mo- and Ni-doping both result in significant decline (by 98 %−99 %) in the amount of released COS before H2S-breakthrough. Moreover, the doping of Mo/Ni into ZnO generally produces positive effects on H2S-uptake activity. However, regeneration leads to notable deterioration of performance for Mo-doped sorbents. It is ascribed to the inadequate conversion of ZnS and structure destruction of sorbents. On the contrast, Ni-doped sorbents with Zn/Ni molar ratio of 90:10 could not only greatly suppress the sulfur-release effect and but also maintain 92 %−95 % of initial sulfur capacity during five sulfidation-regeneration cycles.

Porous carbon nanofibers supported Zn@MnOx sorbents with high dispersion and loading content for hot coal gas desulfurization

Sorbent with a great quantity of highly dispersed active components is of importance to achieve excellent desulfurization performance. Thus, Zn@MnOx/porous carbon nanofibers (PCNFs) sorbent has been constructed via electrospinning, carbonization and hydrothermal techniques in this study. The as-prepared sorbent realizes a sulfur capacity of 9.63 g S 100 g−1 sorbent and a utilization 117% of ZnO, which can be attributed to the synergetic effects of the enlarged surface area of PCNFs and the uniformly distributed active components. The specific surface area of modified PCNFs is nearly five times higher than that of the pristine CNFs, providing larger loading area and more attachment sites for metal oxides. Activation with KMnO4 not only generates active component MnOx but also presets ‘seed’ for the attachment of Zn2+, which is beneficial for the high dispersion of active components. The presented method is beneficial to producing sorbents with better structure and promotes desulfurization performances.

Insights into H2S-absorption and oxidation-regeneration behavior of Ni-doped ZnO-based sorbents supported on SBA-15 for desulfurization of hot coal gas

Sulfur removal from hot coal gas is one of important technologies for highly efficient coal-based energy system. H2S-absorption and oxidation-regeneration behavior of Ni-doped ZnO-based sorbents supported on SBA-15 (ZnNi/SBA-15) was analyzed in this work. The results indicate that ZnNi/SBA-15 shows highest H2S-uptake capacity (16 g S/100 g sorbent) and lowest amount of produced COS (0.0004 g COS/100 g sorbent) when used for desulfurization at 500 °C. Removal of H2S at 700 °C leads to lowest breakthrough sulfur capacity of sorbents. It is ascribed to the destruction of typical microscopic morphology of SBA-15. Boltzmann function is suitable for modeling the H2S-absorption behavior of ZnNi/SBA-15. The evolution rate of H2S for sorbents varies from 0.096 to 0.228 min−1 at 400–700 °C. H2S-CO and H2S-CO2 reactions both contribute to the formation of COS at the stage of H2S-absorption saraturation. Increase of temperature from 550 to 600 °C results in the disappearance of ZnS in regenerated ZnNi/SBA-15. Moreover, most of plugged pore structure caused by sulfidation reaction could restore after regeneration at 600 °C. Further increase of regeneration temperature causes the decline of regeneration efficiency and less porous sorbent. Additionally, the sorbents have stable desulfurization ability and low COS emission during multiple sulfidation-regeneration cycles.

Residual steam/CH4 reforming strategy over pinewood-derived 10Ni-xNb2O5-yCaO/Al2O3 for in situ desulfurization from industrial raw syngas

A novel strategy of residual steam/CH4 reforming (SMR) for in situ desulfurization and utilization of waste heat in industrial coal gasification crude syngas was first proposed in order to resolve the problems of sewage effluent and energy loss as well as hot coal gas desulfurization. In the meantime, a series of pinewood-derived 10Ni-xNb2O5-yCaO/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared for the first time and evaluated under the conditions of simulating industrial coal gasification crude syngas for residual SMR reaction. The highest methane conversion (93.4%) and long-term stability of 89.8% at time on stream of 88 h without decline over 10Ni-1Nb2O5-1CaO/Al2O3 are very close to the result (96.11%) by thermodynamic equilibrium calculation, demonstrating that pinewood-derived an ordered straight channel structure improves the behavior of gas diffusion and remain intact in SMR reaction at 850 °C. Meanwhile, the efficiency of hot coal gas desulfurization after removal of residual steam enhances 303.1% (from 62 mg/g to 249.9 mg/g). Besides, XRD, UV–vis and TG results prove that the doping of appropriate amount of Nb and Ca upgrade high dispersion of nickel nanoparticles and the ability of coke/sintering resistance. The studies provided a new strategy for the removal of residual H2O in really industrial coal gasification crude syngas.

Insights into the effects of metal-ion doping on the structure and hot-coal-gas desulfurization properties of Zn-based sorbents supported on SBA-15

Doping of metal (Co/Ni/Ce) ions into ZnO was proposed for modifying the structure and hot-coal-gas desulfurization properties of ZnO supported on SBA-15 (ZnO/SBA-15). Co and Ce element are presented as Co2+ and Co3+, and Ce3+ and Ce4+ in modified sorbents, respectively, while only Ni2+ is found in Ni-ion-doped sorbents. Doping of Co/Ni ions causes the formation of Zn-Co/Ni-O solid solution and more porous sorbents. Accordingly, the desulfurization performance of ZnO/SBA-15 is greatly improved after the doping of Co/Ni ions. Furthermore, Ni-doped sorbent with Zn/Ni molar ratio of 20:1 (Zn20Ni1/SBA-15) shows the highest breakthrough sulfur capacity (16.0 g of S per 100 g of sorbent). More importantly, the introduction of Co/Ni/Ce ions produces an inhibiting effect on the formation of COS during desulfurization process. Especially, the amount of COS formed before H2S breakthrough for Zn20Ni1/SBA-15 decreases by 99.4% compared to ZnO/SBA-15. The inhibition of COS emission is mainly attributed to the catalytic effect of Co/Ni/Ce-containing species on the hydrogenolysis of COS. In addition, Zn20Ni1/SBA-15 shows stable desulfurization performance during successive sulfidation/regeneration cycles, favorable for its application for hot coal gas desulfurization.

Porous Carbon Nanofibers Supported Zn@Mnox Sorbents with High Dispersion and Loading Content for Hot Coal Gas Desulfurization

Porous Carbon Nanofibers Supported Zn@Mnox Sorbents with High Dispersion and Loading Content for Hot Coal Gas Desulfurization

Walnut wood-derived hierarchically 3D self-assembly of (a%Ce–Mn)yAl2−yOx and rapid diffusion character of straight micron channel during hot coal gas desulfurization

Refined design of sustainable sorbent demands to tackle the strong dependence for additional mesoporous support and low utilization in hot coal gas desulfurization. Unlike the well-established preparation of loading sorbents supported on zeolites, a vacuum-assisted self-assemble strategy tapping into the ordered channels of walnut wood is proposed to facilely fabricate three-dimensional (3D) (a%Ce–Mn)yAl2−yOx desulfurizers with anisotropy which provides a desirable macroporosity for rapid diffusion of H2S. Benefiting from the inherent straight channle in micron scale, the obtained (8%Ce–Mn)1.5Al0.5Ox presents the highest breakthrough sulfur capacity (289.79 mg g−1) and effective utilization (88.42%) at 700 °C. The favorable rapid diffusion of gases in micro/macropores improves greatly the H2O-resistance and anti-interference ability of 3D (8%Ce–Mn)1.5Al0.5Ox for high steam and concentration of reducing gas. The fast mass transport in sulfidation reaction at 700 °C is described perfectly by the improved deactivation kinetics model. This study opens a novel design of the ideal 3D desulfurizers with micron porosity inherited from hierarchical architecture of walnut wood for industrialization utilization in the near future.

Mesoporous Zn-Fe-based binary metal oxide sorbent with sheet-shaped morphology: Synthesis and application for highly efficient desulfurization of hot coal gas

Mesoporous Zn-Fe-based binary metal oxide sorbent for hot coal gas desulfurization was derived from the Zn-Fe-based layer double hydroxide (ZnFe-LDH). Considering the great disparity of the pH required for the precipitation of Zn2+ and Fe3+, a two-step approach, namely the co-precipitation (Zn2+ and Fe2+) plus subsequent H2O2 oxidation, was proposed for the synthesis of the ZnFe-LDH, the precursor of the sorbent. The preliminary synthesis mechanism of the ZnFe-LDH was discussed. The results reveal that the formation of the layered structure occurs during the oxidation step process rather than the precipitation stage. A series of LDH-derived double metal oxides (DMOs) with the Zn/Fe molar ratios ranging from 1:1 to 5:1 were obtained and contain both ZnO and ZnFe2O4. Furthermore, sheet-shaped morphology is observed for most of the DMOs. The desulfurization performance of the DMOs was evaluated over a fixed-bed reactor. The results indicate that the DMO with the Zn/Fe molar ratio of 5:1 performs best and has the highest sulfur capacity (25 g of sulfur per 100 g of sorbent) at 550 °C. The reaction kinetics was analyzed via the deactivation model. The sorbent has lower deactivation rate constants (0.0185–0.0282 min−1) compared to other Zn-based sorbents, beneficial for the sulfidation reaction. In comparison to ZnO, the DMO sorbent shows lower regeneration temperature. Furthermore, regeneration could effectively recover the plugged pore structure caused by the sulfidation reaction. In addition, the sorbents could maintain high sulfur capacity during four sulfidation-regeneration cycles, showing great potential for industrial desulfurization of hot coal gas.

Lattice substitution and desulfurization kinetic analysis of Zn-based spinel sorbents loading onto porous silicoaluminophosphate zeolites

Green Zn-based spinel sorbents for hot coal gas desulfurization have been developed with the assistance of optimization procedures. The pilot study highlights an outstanding ordered mesoporous support (SBET = 323 m2 g−1, Da = 4.3 nm) of SAPO-34@as-prepared SBA-15 (SS) for loading active metal oxides. ZnCo2O4 spinel loaded onto SS (ZnCo2/SS) exhibits a prominent desulfurization performance compared to other sorbents whose partial Co is substituted by Mn or Fe in spinel B-site, owing to the slight effect of PO43− in SS. After systematic evaluation on role of sulfidation condition, 50 wt% ZnCo2/SS sorbent possesses the sulfur storage capacity of 138.08 mg g−1at550 °C and little loss of active species in 5 desulfurization-regeneration cycles. Results of high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) etc. demonstrate that 70.42% of initial sulfur capacity of ZnCo2/SS presented in the 2nd utilization is associated with zinc evaporation, existence of high stable sulfides and partial sintering. The improved deactivation kinetic model suitably describes that the H2S concentration distribution relates with the spatial position of fixed-bed reactor and desulfurization time.

Fe-Based Sorbent for Hot Coal Gas under Microwave Irradiation: Desulfurization Performance and Microwave Effects

The microwave-assisted chemical process is environmentally friendly and energy-saving. In this study, microwave irradiation was applied to enhance the hot coal gas desulfurization process with modified semi-coke-supported Fe2O3 as the sorbent. The results indicate that the sorbent with 20% Fe2O3 shows the greatest breakthrough sulfur capacity (9.0%) at 500 °C in the simulated coal gas. Besides Fe1–xS, sulfur was also produced during the desulfurization process. The deactivation model could be used to simulate the adsorption behavior of the sorbents for H2S. The activation energies of the sulfidation reaction by microwave and conventional techniques are 26.9 and 27.8 kJ mol–1, respectively. The sorbents adsorbing H2S under microwave irradiation show much larger initial rate constants (308–2071 m3 min–1 kg–1) for the sulfidation reaction. In comparison to the conventional technique, microwave desulfurization generally results in much better performance of H2S removal and leads to less negative effects on th...

A review of sorbents for high-temperature hydrogen sulfide removal from hot coal gas

Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems are considered as the most promising clean coal technologies. Syngas derived from coal gasification is the major fuel sources for IGCC and SOFC power systems; however, large amounts of sulfur compounds, mainly in the form of hydrogen sulfide, are produced during gasification. Hydrogen sulfide has to be removed prior to syngas utilization to protect downstream equipment from high-temperature corrosion. Therefore, hydrogen sulfide removal from raw syngas plays a key role in successful application of IGCC and SOFC systems. Hot coal gas desulfurization using solid sorbents is a more efficient technique for hydrogen sulfide removal, compared with conventional cold coal gas desulfurization with amine solution. This article reviews solid sorbents for high-temperature desulfurization, e.g., transition metal oxides, rare-earth oxides, spinel oxides, perovskite oxides, nanoelemental metals and mesoporous desulfurizers. Composite oxides that combine the properties of diverse metal oxides are promising candidates for hot coal gas desulfurization. The extensive background knowledge and the state of the art on high-temperature sorbents for hydrogen sulfide removal in this review provides inspiration and guidance to develop new cost-effective sorbents.

High-sulfur capacity and regenerable Zn-based sorbents derived from layered double hydroxide for hot coal gas desulfurization.

The Zn-Al mixed metal oxide (ZnAl-MMO) with a plate-like structure was derived from Zn-Al layered double hydroxide. The ZnAl-MMO with a Zn/Al molar ratio of 3:1 exhibits superior absorption ability for H2S in a simulated coal gas at 600 ℃ due to the special structure of the ZnAl-MMO. Besides ZnS, elemental sulfur is also produced during the desulfurization process. The deactivation model could well simulate the absorption behavior of H2S. The sulfidation reaction over the sorbent shows large initial reaction rate constants (1110-5390 m3 min-1 kg-1) and low activation energy (29.5 kJ mol-1). The regeneration rate of the used sorbent can reach 99.8% under the optimum conditions. The regenerated sorbents still show high sulfur capacity (ca. 30%), implying its great application potential for industrial-scale desulfurization of the hot coal gas.

Ordered mesoporous Zn-based supported sorbent synthesized by a new method for high-efficiency desulfurization of hot coal gas

A new approach (microwave-hydrothermal plus oxidation) was proposed for the preparation of the Zn-based sorbents supported on the ordered mesoporous Si-based material. The hydrothermal synthesis and oxidation conditions of the sorbent precursor (ZnS/MCM41 mesophase) with Zn(AC)2 and thioacetamide (TAA) as the Zn and S sources, respectively, were optimized. The sorbents were evaluated in a fixed bed using the simulate gas of 2000 ppm H2S, 39% H2, 27% CO, 12% CO2, and N2 as balance gas. The structure of the sorbents was characterized by means of XRD, N2 adsoprtion, SEM, EDX, and TEM analysis. The results indicate that the optimal microwave-hydrothermal conditions are 400 W, 2.5 h, and 1:3 (the mole ratio of the Zn(AC)2 to TAA). The oxidation of ZnS in the sorbent precursor to ZnO is invalid at 550 °C due to unfavorable reaction kinetics. Both the fresh and used sorbents show ordered hexagonal mesoporous structure. It is confirmed that Zn2SiO4 present in the fresh and regenerated sorbents could be consumed during the desulfurization process via the reaction (Zn2SiO4 + 2H2S → 2ZnS + SiO2 + 2H2O), giving a positive effect on the desulfurization of the sorbents. The optimized Zn-based mesoporous sorbent (actual Zn content: 20.3%) exhibits superior (high breakthrough sulfur capacity: 5.4–5.7%) and stable desulfurization ability during five sulfidation/regeneration cycles. In addition, sulifidation reaction only leads to low-degree plugging of the pore structure of the regenerated sorbents, and the regeneration reaction could restore (at least mostly) the aforementioned changes in the pore properties.

Rare earth oxide doping and synthesis of spinel ZnMn2O4/KIT-1 with double gyroidal mesopores for desulfurization nature of hot coal gas

In this work, spinel ZnMn2O4/KIT-1 using KIT-1 with 3-dimensional wormhole-like channels as support was fabricated for hot coal gas desulfurization at high temperature via a sol-gel method. Effects of ZnMn2O4 contents, desulfurization temperature, rare earth oxide doping and steam volume on the desulfurization performances of ZnMn2O4/KIT-1 were investigated systematically. A superior sorbent of ZnMn(Ce)2O4/KIT-1 was obtained with the addition of 45%ZnMn2O4 and doping of CeO2, which was suitable for 550 °C desulfurization and endured a small impact of steam. Moreover, the crystal lattice replace between Ce3+ and Mn3+ facilitated the dispersion of active species and avoided Zn2+ converting to elemental Zn. The high sulfur capacity of ZnMn(Ce)2O4/KIT-1 was maintained after five consecutive desulfurization-regeneration cycles. The textural properties of sorbents were evaluated successively by means of XRD, BET, HRTEM, XPS, H2-TPR and TG/DSC techniques. Results revealed that the main active components in sorbent were robustly existed in form of ZnMn2O4 spinel which effectually prevented the vaporization of Zn in high temperature. Therefore, a low-cost sorbent of ZnMn(Ce)2O4/KIT-1 with the high BSC (171.7 mg S/g sorbent) has an excellent performance for H2S removal from hot coal gas.

Kinetic Analysis of H2S Removal over Mesoporous Cu–Mn Mixed Oxide/SBA-15 and La–Mn Mixed Oxide/KIT-6 Sorbents during Hot Coal Gas Desulfurization Using the Deactivation Kinetics Model

Kinetic analysis was investigated using the deactivation kinetics model, where the reaction order of each species based on the experimental data was estimated for H2S removal over mesoporous Cu–Mn mixed oxide/SBA-15 and La–Mn mixed oxide/KIT-6 sorbents during hot coal gas desulfurization in a fixed-bed reactor. The reaction orders, rate constants, apparent activation energy (Ea), and deactivation energy (Ed) were calculated as the kinetic parameters. The calculated reaction orders, α, β, and γ, were 1, 1, and 1 for Cu–Mn mixed oxide/SBA-15 and 0.6, 1.2, and 1 for La–Mn mixed oxide/KIT-6. The obtained Ea and Ed for Cu1Mn9 mixed oxide/SBA-15 were 33.02 and 46.34 kJ mol–1 and for La3Mn97 mixed oxide/KIT-6 were 48.98 and 56.10 kJ mol–1 , respectively. This model offered the H2S breakthrough curves for the whole duration of the desulfurization reaction, with errors less than 5% between calculated and experimental data.

High performance of Fe nanoparticles/carbon aerogel sorbents for H2S Removal

To solve the effect of the strong reduction gas, sintering problem and improve the desulfurization activity. Fe nanoparticles (NPs) into carbon aerogel desulfurizers were fabricated with by 50%Fe/C700 precursor and their performance for H2S removal in hot coal gas was studied. The Fe nanoparticles loading in mesoporous carbon aerogels with larger specific surface area and pore volume sorbent were designed and firstly applied to remove H2S with high efficiency in hot coal gas. The H2S removal experiments were conducted in the temperature range of 500–650°C using hot coal gas containing 0.2vol% H2S. We explored the optimum temperature conditions and the influence of textural parameters of carbon aerogels and tested the Fe nanoparticles desulfurizers with 10–20% H2 and 10–20% CO. The fresh, used, regenerated samples were characterized by N2 adsorption, X-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning electron microscope techniques (HRSEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The results confirmed that Fe nanoparticle sorbent had high desulfurization performance. This work could provide a new direction and new field in hot coal gas desulfurization and would be important to research on the development sector of the coal industry.

High H2O-resistance CaO-MnOx/MSU-H sorbents for hot coal gas desulfurization

A series of xMnyCa/MSU-H sorbents with various Mn/Ca molar ratio were first designed and synthesized with a sol-gel method. The desulfurization performance of the new sorbent was investigated at 600–800°C in hot coal gas. 90Mn10Ca/MSU-H exhibited better desulfurization performance at 750°C with a breakthrough sulfur capacity (BSC) of 18.69g S/100g sorbent compared to other supported Mn-based sorbents (13.2g S/100g sorbent) in similar desulfurization condition, and strong durability in multiple sulfidation-regeneration cycles using oxidation/reduction regeneration method which resolved the scientific issue of that CaSO4 is hardly decomposed to CaO. The introduction of Ca species effectively promoted the dispersion of active constituents, which improved the desulfurization activity. More importantly, 90Mn10Ca/MSU-H showed excellent H2O-resistance ability due to the fact that CaO enhanced the sorption of H2O. Moreover, the utilization of MSU-H with large pore size and excellent thermal stability effectively assured fast mass-transfer and confined the migration of active particles, which led to long lifetime stability of sorbents.

Performance of rare earth oxide doped Mn-based sorbent on various silica supports for hot coal gas desulfurization

A Mn-based sorbent with high desulfurization efficiency were fabricated using various mesoporous silica as support and doping rare earth oxides, and their physical properties were characterized by means of XRD, BET, H2-TPR, CO2-TPD, O2-TPD and UV–Vis techniques. The results indicated that Mn/MCF exhibited the highest desulfurization performance among Mn/MCM-41, Mn/SBA-15, Mn/MCM-48 and Mn/MCF due to the 3-D ultra-large mesopores and excellent thermal stability of MCF at 700°C. Doping rare earth oxides into Mn/MCF can make the high dispersion of active particles. But the breakthrough sulfur capacities (BSCs) over 95Mn5Ce/MCF, 95Mn5La/MCF and 95Mn5Sm/MCF sorbents are lower than Mn/MCF sorbent due to the lower BSCs of CeO2, Sm2O3 and La2O3 themselves and the lower SBET and VT. The desulfurization efficiency and precision further declined with increasing steam content for Mn/MCF sorbent. The high sulfur capacity over the Mn/MCF sorbent was maintained during the five consecutive desulfurization/regeneration cycles.

Effect of microwave irradiation on the preparation of iron oxide/arenaceous clay sorbent for hot coal gas desulfurization

For applications in the high temperature coal gas desulfurization process, iron oxide/arenaceous clay sorbents were prepared by microwave irradiation and conventional heating, respectively. The desulfurization performances of sorbents were evaluated using a fixed-bed reactor with simulated coal gas. The effects of calcination temperature and microwave heating time on the properties of sorbents were also investigated. The microwave-irradiated sorbents exhibit sulfur capacity and reactivity greater than those prepared by conventional heating. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, a scanning electron microscope, a transmission electron microscope and N2 adsorption were used to characterize the physical and structural properties of the sorbents. Several benefits have been observed using microwave heating rather than conventional heating for the preparation of sorbents. The results indicate that microwave irradiation leads to better inner structure of sorbent and more uniform distribution of the active component with smaller particle size, which facilitate chemical reaction and mass transfer. Microwave irradiation also results in greater outer layer electron density and higher contents of surface metal element, both of which are beneficial to the increase of absorption efficiency and desulfurization reactivity. Then the microwave-irradiated sorbents were tested for three successive sulfurization–regeneration cycles, the 3rd regenerated sorbent still performed well with no apparent deterioration, it proved that the sorbent has good regenerability and is suitable for hot gas desulfurization.