INVESTIGATION OF IMPREGNATED ACTIVATED CARBON PROPERTIES USED IN HYDROGEN SULFIDE FINE REMOVAL

The effects of relative humidity (RH), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), oxygen (O-2) presence and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) on H2S adsorption dynamics of KOH/CaO impregnated activated carbon are investigated in this study. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray detector (SEM-EDX), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques are applied and nitrogen adsorption characteristics are determined for characterization. The presence of water, O-2 and lower GHSV has beneficial effects on the activated carbon performance. CO2 decreases the adsorption capacity due to its acidic characteristics. Best adsorption capacity is obtained as 13 wt % in KOH/CaO impregnated activated carbon, in a CH4 (60%)/CO2 (38%)/O-2 (2%) gas atmosphere, at ambient temperature, RH 90 and 5000 h(-1) GHSV. Sulphur species formation was verified with the help of SEM-EDX, XRD, TGA, FTIR and nitrogen adsorption analysis on the exhausted samples.