Investigation of the Performance of Zeolitic Adsorbent Modified with Cu Nanoparticles for Desulfurization of Hydrocarbon Fuel

Sulfur is one of the elements in fossil fuels that is converted to sulfur dioxide, which is one of the most important air pollutants, when burned in a car engine. In the present study, the adsorption capacity of an organic sulfurized compound from a diesel fuel model containing 300 ppm thiophene was evaluated using x13 zeolite modified with 3% by weight of copper metal. Moreover, the effect of three parameters of contact time (15, 30, 60, and 120 min), adsorbent value (0.5, 1, 2.5 and 3.5 g) and temperature (25, 40, 50 and 60 °C) was assessed in a discontinuous system. In order to activate the adsorbent surface cations, x13 zeolite was washed with deionized water and 0.1 M copper nitrate salt and then copper nanoparticles were loaded on it. The maximum adsorption capacity was 2.5 g of adsorbent at 60 min at room temperature, and the amount of thiophene for adsorption modified with copper nanoparticles increased from 300 to 138 ppm. The adsorption results showed that an increase of more than 2.5 g of adsorbent would not cause a significant change in the adsorption efficiency. In addition, FT-IR, SEM and N2 physisorption studies showed that the adsorbent would maintain its regular structure after nanoparticle loading. Finally, the modified zeolite showed better performance for desulfurization of the diesel fuel model.