Desulfurization of fuels by means of a nanoporous carbon adsorbent

Mesoporous carbon, CMK-3, was prepared using hexagonal Al-SBA-15 mesoporous silica, instead of SBA-15, as a template. The synthesized materials were examined via X-ray diffraction and N-2-adsorption. The mesoporous carbon was studied for its adsorption of dibenzothiophene (DBT) from petroleum fuels. The performance of this adsorbent was compared with SBA-15 and Al-SBA-15, through which CMK-3 showed higher sulfur adsorption capabilities due to a larger mesopore volume and a higher specific surface area. The uptake capacity for DBT followed the order CMK-3 > Al-SBA-15 > SBA-15. The results confirmed the importance of the adsorbent pore size and its surface chemistry for the adsorption of DBT from liquid phase. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to fit equilibrium data for CMK-3. The equilibrium data were best represented by the Langmuir isotherm. Kinetic studies were carried out and showed the sorption kinetics of dibenzothiophene was best described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. (C) 2010 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.