Low temperature H2S dry-desulfurization with zinc oxide

A commercially available zinc oxide with a bimodal micro- and mesopore size distribution was investigated as a desulfurizing sorbent in a fixed-bed reactor at low temperatures from 60 to 400 degrees C. Fresh and sulfided materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET specific surface area, pore volume, SEM/EDX, TGA/DSC and in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD). The sorbent's sorption capacity at breakthrough increased with the sulfidation temperature reaching 87% of the theoretical value for desulfurization at 400 degrees C. A deactivation model that considers the activity of the solid reactant was used to fit the experimental data. Good agreement between the experimental breakthrough curves and the model predictions was obtained. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.