Equilibrium and kinetics of Jet-A fuel desulfurization by selective adsorption at room temperatures

The performance of desulfurization of Jet-A fuel at room temperature and atmospheric pressure by using an innovative Nickel-Cerium (Ni-Ce)-based adsorbent is investigated in this work. The adsorbent preparation conditions, including the calcination temperature and length of time, and the compositions of support materials and catalysts were optimized to obtain the best efficiency of sulfur removal. The effects of the adsorbent-fuel mass ratio and the interaction time of adsorbent to fuel on the desulfurization performance were also investigated through batch-test experiment. The sulfur adsorption equilibrium and kinetics were examined. The results showed that the BET model can best represent the equilibrium isotherm, and a pseudo-second order model can best fit the kinetics data. For Jet-A fuel in a total sulfur concentration of 1037 ppmw, the lowest achieved sulfur concentration at room temperature in the treated fuel was 22.13 ppmw. The corresponding equilibrium adsorptive capacity at this maximum desulfurization efficiency was found to be 1.32 mg S/g adsorbent. This is a significant achievement regarding the desulfurization efficiency, especially at room temperature and using commercial Jet-A fuel with no pretreatment.