Desulfurization of Simulated Coking Benzene on Modified Activated Clay

Abstract

Two catalysts, SO42-/activated clay (SAC) and SO42-/Fe2O3 activated clay (SFAC) were obtained by activated clay with or without Fe2O3 loading then treated with H2SO4. The acidity of the catalysts were measured by temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD), and the results confirm that the SFAC catalyst has higher acid strength than SAC catalyst. Other techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) were also employed to characterize the structure of catalysts. Its catalytic properties in desulfurization reaction from the simulated coking benzene by alkylation method was also investigated under mild conditions (353 K and atmospheric pressure), the thiophene removal efficiency can reach 42% for SAC catalyst and 99% for SFAC catalyst, respectively.