Combustible gas (e.g., gasification syngas) cleaning
at high temperatures
can obtain further gains in energy efficiency for power generation
and importantly leads to a simplified process and lower cost as a
commercially viable source of clean energy. Thus, a feasibility study
for high-temperature desulfurization (HTDS) and additional high-temperature
particulate filtration (HTPF) of a raw syngas using ZnO sorbent-dispersed
Raney CuO (ZnO/R-CuO) and ceramic filter (ZnO/CF) has been carried
out. By synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy,
mainly Zn(II) and Cu(II) are found in the ZnO/R-CuO sorbents. Both
ZnO and R-CuO in the sorbents are involved in HTDS (1% H2S) at 873 K to form ZnS, Cu2S, and a small amount of CuS
and reach relatively high HTDS efficiencies (82–90%). In addition,
regeneration of the sulfurized sorbent by oxidation with O2 at 873 K (HTRG) for 1 h can restore ZnO and CuO for continuous and
repetitive HTDS-HTRG cycles. To facilitate the HTDS engineering applications
by the ZnO/R-CuO sorbents, their reaction rate constant (8.35 ×
104 cm3/g/min) and activation energy (114.8
kJ/mol) at 873 K have also been determined. Furthermore, the ZnO/CF
sorbent/filter can perform HTDS and additional HTPF at 873 K with
very high particulate removal efficiencies (>98%). This demonstrates
the feasibility for hot-syngas cleaning with a much better energy
efficiency and lesser cost for cleaner power generation.