Reactive adsorption of sulfur compounds in diesel on nickel supported on mesoporous silica

Sulfur compounds in commercial diesel were selectively removed by reactive adsorption using metallic nickel nanoparticles supported on mesoporous silica. Nanosize nickel particles were supported on mesoporous silica SBA-15 and KIT-6 by impregnation of nickel nitrate and subsequent reduction. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy study revealed that the maximum nickel concentration achieved was 30 wt% for both the substrates, before particle agglomeration sets. Under these conditions, the best dynamic adsorption capacity observed was 1.7 mg/g at 10 ppmw S breakthrough level with a high sulfur diesel (240 ppmw) on 30 wt% Ni/SBA-15. For a low sulfur diesel (11.7 ppmw), the corresponding result was 0.47 mg/g for the same adsorbent at 0.1 ppmw S breakthrough level, which is suitable for fuel cell applications.