Desulfurization of Transportation Fuels with Zeolites under Ambient Conditions

Deep desulfurization of transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels) is being mandated by U.S. and foreign governments and is also needed for future fuel cell applications. However, it is extremely difficult and costly to achieve with current technology, which requires catalytic reactors o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2003-07, Vol.301 (5629), p.79-81
Main Authors:	Yang, Ralph T., Hernández-Maldonado, Arturo J., Yang, Frances H.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Adsorption Applied sciences Catalytic converters Crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products Desulfurization Diesel fuels Energy Exact sciences and technology Fuel cells Fuels Gasoline Government regulation Jet fuel Petroleum Petroleum desulfurization Petroleum industry Petroleum products, gas and fuels. Motor fuels, lubricants and asphalts Processing of crude oil and oils from shales and tar sands. Processes. Equipment. Refinery and treatment units Sorbents Sulfur Thiophenes Transportation Zeolites
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Summary:	Deep desulfurization of transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels) is being mandated by U.S. and foreign governments and is also needed for future fuel cell applications. However, it is extremely difficult and costly to achieve with current technology, which requires catalytic reactors operated at high pressure and temperature. We show that Cu+and Ag+zeolite Y can adsorb sulfur compounds from commercial fuels selectively and with high sulfur capacities (by π complexation) at ambient temperature and pressure. Thus, the sulfur content was reduced from 430 to < 0.2 parts per million by weight in a commercial diesel at a sorbent capacity of 34 cubic centimeters of clean diesel produced per gram of sorbent. This sulfur selectivity and capacity are orders of magnitude higher than those obtained by previously known sorbents.
ISSN:	0036-8075 1095-9203