DEVELOPING AN EFFICIENT CATALYST BASED ON THERMAL AND ACID-TREATED CLAY FOR THE REMOVAL OF TRACE OLEFINS FROM AROMATIC COMPOUNDS

Bentonite is used as a catalyst in the removal of olefins from aromatic compounds and the present study was designed to investigate how its performance might be improved by various treatments. Bentonite from Semnan mine, Iran, was used in the study following initial characterization. In order to investigate the effect of acid and thermal treatments on the removal of olefins from aromatic compounds, bentonite samples were modified using HNO3 at different concentrations (0.15, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1, and 2 M) and were also at temperatures between 100 and 340 degrees C for 3 h. To examine the catalytic activity of bentonite-based catalysts, the samples were evaluated after running batch and continuous experiments. The optimum catalyst was characterized using thermo-programmed desorption (TPD) of NH3 to examine the acidic sites. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms (BET analysis), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were used to study the structural changes of the bentonite produced by the acid and thermal activation. The removal of olefins by the catalysts in batch and continuous systems revealed that the sample modified with 0.3 M Nitric acid at 150 degrees C had superior catalytic activity, with olefin conversion remaining at >50% for up to 20 h. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms showed that acid treatment can produce a mesoporous structure. On the other hand, the TPD analysis indicated that during weak acid treatment, some cations, such as Al3+ and Fe3+, were leached from octahedral sheets and the interlayers of the clay mineral resulting in weak acid sites being generated. Finally, a novel method was proposed and tested for measuring the Bromine Index (BI) using potentiometric titration.