Synthesis of Microporous Carbon from Atmospheric Residues of Al-Kasik Refinery for Efficient Adsorptive Desulfurization Process
摘要
Thermal carbonization of the atmospheric residue (AR) from the Al-Kasik refinery at 450 ℃ for 75 min at a heating rate of 10 ℃/min was conducted to produce coke, which was then activated by KOH to synthesize activated carbon (AC) via the optimized protocol. Typical AC was created at 750 ℃ for 75 min using a 1:1 KOH: coke impregnation ratio. The analysis of the resulting AC by the N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, FE-SEM, XRD, and EDX revealed that it had a BET surface area of 381.24 m2/g with a mean pore diameter of 1.93 nm, indicating its microporosity. This AC effectively eliminated dibenzothiophene (DBT) from model oil and real fuel. Using 0.30 g of the resulting AC at 30 ℃ for 80 min, the elimination of DBT from the 300 ppm model oil was 99.01%, while under the same conditions, the elimination of S-compounds from the real fuel was 43.15%. The elimination efficiency was 82.88% when 1.0 g of AC was employed. Thus, the as-obtained AC can effectively adsorb S compounds from transportation fuels.