Modification of Fe–Mn mixed oxide COS removal sorbent by rare-earth oxides addition

In order to develop highly active sorbent for COS removal, Fe–Mn mixed oxides doped with CeO2, La2O3 or Sm2O3 were studied. The effects of these promoters on the structural properties of Fe–Mn oxides were investigated by XRD, BET, TPR and TEM techniques. XRD results revealed that the degree of crystallinity of Fe–Mn oxide phase decreased due to the addition of rare-earth oxides. Doping with CeO2, La2O3 or Sm2O3 led to an increase in BET surface area of the sample. TPR studies showed that the reactivity of the reduction of doped samples increased in the temperature range of 300–450 °C. In addition, the desulfurization test was performed at 325 °C with a gas hourly space velocity of 1000 h−1. It was found that the addition of 3% La2O3 greatly improved the absorption sulfur capacity of the sorbent, while the sorbent doped 3% CeO2 achieved a sufficiently high purifying degree before breakthrough.