SusChemE 2015
International Conference on Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
October 8-9, 2015, Hotel Lalit, Mumbai
Newer Insights into Green and Low Cost Zeolitic Adsorbents for Adsorptive
Desulfurization of Liquid Transportation Fuels
Niteen R. Yeole*, P. Vijay, S. J. Chopra
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India
*nry12002@gmail.com, pvijay@ddn.upes.ac.in, chancellor@upes.ac.in
1. Introduction:
In order to protect the environment from the noxious emissions of oxides of sulfur, there is move towards deep desulfurization
of transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel etc. At present, hydro desulfurization (HDS) is used in petroleum
refineries to reduce the sulfur level. However, HDS becomes energy and cost-intensive process for sulfur reduction below 50
ppmw. Many processes have been reported as attractive complementary to the HDS process. Among them, adsorptive
desulfurization (ADS) emerges as a favorable process as it can be accomplished at ambient temperature and pressure [1].
Among the several types of adsorbents reported, zeolites have been found to be effective materials for adsorptive
desulfurization of gasoline and diesel. They will be reviewed in this paper with respect to synthesis and modification from
green chemistry and economy view point.
2. Seed assisted synthesis of green zeolites:
Zeolites are crystalline microporous aluminosilicates with outstanding properties such as large surface areas, superior solid
acidity in the H-form, and high hydrothermal stability. Also the pore systems are composed of regularly ordered channels
and/or cavities in which guest molecules viz. organo sulfur compounds can be accommodated. Today, organic structuredirecting agents (OSDAs) are used for the synthesis of zeolites. However, the use of OSDAs increase cost as well as the
environmental pollution. Therefore, an alternative route to synthesize environmentally-friendly, OSDA-free zeolites is strongly
desired [2].
3. Microwave assisted synthesis and modification of zeolites:
There is need to study microwave energy as a powerful heating source in zeolite synthesis. Microwave assisted technique is
significantly different from the conventional methods for the synthesis of zeolites.
Microwave irradiation could shorten the ion exchange time efficiently, which is beneficial to prepare catalysts and adsorbents.
H. Song et al. prepared AgY zeolite adsorbents by introducing silver into the framework of NaY zeolite with microwaveassisted liquid ion exchange and studied the effects of preparation conditions and reaction conditions on desulfurization [3].
They found that, AgY prepared with microwave irradiation showed a higher desulfurization rate than AgY prepared with the
impregnation method. Possibly, this is due to the promotion of ion exchange process by microwave irradiation.
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SusChemE 2015
International Conference on Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
October 8-9, 2015, Hotel Lalit, Mumbai
4. Conclusion:
Development of green and low cost zeolites with desirable features has become interesting as the conventional techniques are
expensive and harmful to the environment. Thus, newer techniques such as seed and microwave assisted synthesis/
modification of the zeolites may gain importance in the near future.
References:
[1] V. M. Bhandari, C. H. Ko, J. G. Park, S. Han, S. H. Cho and J. N. Kim, Chemical Engineering Science, 61, 2006, 2599 – 2608.
[2] Y. Kamimura, K. Itabashi , Keiji Itabashi, Tatsuya Okubo, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials , 147, 2012, 149–156.
[3] H. Song, X. Wan and X. Sun, Can. J. Chem. Eng. 91, 2013, 915–923.
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