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Reduction of sulfur oxides emissions via adsorptive desulfurization of transportation fuels using novel silica-based adsorbent

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Abstract

Transportation fuels with high sulfur content are one of the primary contributors to air pollution because they emit massive quantities of sulfur oxides upon combustion. The emitted sulfur oxides undoubtedly contribute to global warming and climate change. Therefore, they should be minimized. The current study accurately describes a novel and direct synthetic pathway for the incorporation of sulfonic acid groups (-SO3H) into mesoporous silica surface. The structure of the prepared materials was confirmed using FTIR, SEM, BET, SA-XRD, TEM, and TGA techniques. The batch adsorption technique was used to carefully evaluate the adsorption efficiency of the prepared adsorbent towards dibenzothiophene (DBT). At optimal adsorption conditions, a maximum adsorption capacity of 75-mg DBT/g adsorbent was achieved. The desulfurization process fitted well to Langmuir and pseudo-second-order models. In addition, the desulfurization process was found to be a spontaneous and exothermic process. As a final point, the practical applicability of the prepared adsorbent, as well as its reusability, was properly investigated, and the results were promising.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Petroleum Refining Department, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI), Cairo, Egypt

    Heba H. El-Maghrabi & Rasha S. Mohamed

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

    Ahmed A. Younes

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  1. Heba H. El-Maghrabi
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  2. Rasha S. Mohamed
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  3. Ahmed A. Younes
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Contributions

HM prepared the materials and performed the characterization studies. RM performed the adsorption studies. AY was a major contributor in interpreting the data and in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ahmed A. Younes.

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El-Maghrabi, H.H., Mohamed, R.S. & Younes, A.A. Reduction of sulfur oxides emissions via adsorptive desulfurization of transportation fuels using novel silica-based adsorbent. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 45933–45945 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14039-6

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