Insights into the adsorption capacity and breakthrough properties of a synthetic zeolite against a mixture of various sulfur species at low ppb levels. (15th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vellingiri, Kowsalya; Kim, Ki-Hyun; Kwon, Eilhann E.; Deep, Akash; Jo, Sang-Hee; Szulejko, Jan E.
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental management. Volume 166(2016)
• Page Start: 484
• Page End: 492
• Publication Date: 2016-01-15
• Subjects: Sorptive removal -- Breakthrough -- A4 zeolites -- TD -- GC-FPD; Environmental policy -- Periodicals; Environmental management -- Periodicals; Environment -- Periodicals; Ecology -- Periodicals; 363.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.10.053
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0301-4797

Abstract

Abstract: The sorptive removal properties of a synthetic A4 zeolite were evaluated against sulfur dioxide (SO2 ) and four reference reduced sulfur compounds (RSC: hydrogen sulfide (H2 S), methanethiol (CH3 SH), dimethyl sulfide (DMS, (CH3 )2 S), and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS, CH3 SSCH3 ). To this end, a sorbent bed of untreated (as-received) A4 zeolite was loaded with gaseous standards at four concentration levels (10–100 part-per-billion (ppb (v/v)) at four different volumes (0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1 L increments) in both increasing (IO: 0.1–1.0 L) and decreasing volume order (DO: 1.0 to 0.1 L). Morphological properties were characterized by PXRD, FTIR, and BET analysis. The removal efficiency of SO2 decreased from 100% for all concentrations at 0.1 L (initial sample volume) to ∼82% (100 ppb) or ∼96% (10 ppb) at 3.6 L. In contrast, removal efficiency of RSC was near 100% at small loading volumes but then fell sharply, irrespective of concentration (10–100 ppb) (e.g., 32% (DMS) to 52% (H2 S) at 100 ppb). The adsorption capacity of zeolite, if expressed in terms of solid–gas partition coefficient (e.g., similar to the Henry's law constant (mmol kg −1 Pa −1 )), showed moderate variabilities with the standard concentration levels and S compound types such as the minimum of 2.03 for CH3 SH (at 20 ppb) to the maximum of 13.9 for SO2 (at 10 ppb). It clearly demonstrated a notable distinction in the removal efficiency of A4 zeolite among the different S species in a mixture with enhanced removal efficiency of SO2 compared to the RSCs. Highlights: A testing system for sulfur gas removal efficiency is developed with the aid of thermal desorption device. The adsorption of A4 zeolite is assessed in relation to sulfur speciation between oxidized and reduced species. The A4 zeolite showed a good removal of SO2 but it was not for all tested reduced sulfur species like H2 S. Based on this work, the breakthrough behavior of all different sulfur species is assessed against the A4 zeolite.