A study on regeneration of zinc titanate sorbents for H2S removal

In this study the regeneration of used zinc titanate sorbents for high temperature desulfurization of fuel gases was investigated. Zinc titanate sorbents with Zn/Ti molar ratio of 1.5 were prepared and the regeneration was carried out in quartz fixed-bed reactor of 1 cm diameter. Regeneration of zinc titanate sorbents at high temperature is exothermic reaction that brings about deterioration of sorbents. So far experimental parameters such as reaction temperature, concentration of oxygen, flow rate and steam content have been considered to obtain suitable regeneration conditions. H2S and SO2 breakthrough curves were obtained during desulfurization-regeneration. Also, properties of the sorbents before and after regeneration were analyzed using SEM, XRD, Hg-porpsimetry and BET method. From such results, we obtained the most suitable regeneration conditions including 650 degrees C of regenerating temperature, 5% of oxygen content and 10% of steam in the gas stream.