Sorbent compositions and desulfurization method using the same
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
InventorsRajender S. Varma, Yuhong Ju, Subhas Sikdar
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Abstract
The disclosed sorbents are for adsorbing sulfur compounds, particularly sulfur-containing aromatic compounds, from liquid hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline, cracked gasoline, diesel, high sulfur liquid fossil fuels, ultra-low sulfur fuel (ULSF) in fuel cell applications, and mixtures thereof. The sorbent compositions comprise one or more silicates having one or more metal nitrates admixed together. The one or more metal nitrates include iron (II) or (III), zinc (II), cadmium (II) and mercury (II) nitrate. The method of preparing and using the sorbents is also provided.
Claims20
A method for removing sulfur compounds from liquid hydrocarbon fuels, comprising the steps of:
- providing a powdered sorbent composition comprised of one or more silicates and sulfur-affinitive metal nitrates;
- adsorbing the sulfur-compounds from a liquid hydrocarbon fuel by mixing the liquid hydrocarbon fuel with the powdered sorbent composition;
- and
- removing the powdered sorbent composition containing the adsorbed sulfur compounds from the liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
A method of producing a low-sulfur liquid hydrocarbon fuel, comprising the steps of:
- providing a powdered sorbent composition comprised of one or more silicates and sulfur-affinitive metal nitrates;
- mixing the powdered sorbent composition with a liquid hydrocarbon fuel to substantially remove one or more sulfur compounds from the liquid fuel;
- and
- removing the powdered sorbent composition and adsorbed sulfur compounds from the mixture to produce the low-sulfur liquid hydrocarbon fuel.
A method of removing sulfur-containing heterocyclic compounds from liquid hydrocarbon fuels comprising the steps of:
- adding a liquid hydrocarbon fuel to one or more silicates and sulfur-affinitive metal nitrates to adsorb the sulfur-containing heterocyclic compounds in the liquid hydrocarbon fuels;
- mixing the liquid hydrocarbon fuel, one or more silicates, and sulfur-affinitive metal nitrates;
- removing the one or more silicates and sulfur-affinitive metal nitrates with the adsorbed sulfur-containing heterocyclic compounds after the mixing step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.