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Selection of adsorbents for in-situ coupling technology of adsorptive desulfurization and biodesulfurization

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Abstract

In-situ coupling of adsorptive desulfurization and biodesulfurization is a new desulfurization technology for fossil oil. It has the merits of high-selectivity of biodesulfurization and high-rate of adsorptive desulfurization. It is carried out by assembling nano-adsorbents onto surfaces of microbial cells. In this work, In-situ coupling desulfurization technology of widely used desulfurization adsorbents of γ-Al2O3, Na-Y molecular sieves, and active carbon with Pseudomonas delafieldii R-8 were studied. Results show that Na-Y molecular sieves restrain the activity of R-8 cells and active carbon cannot desorb the substrate dibenzothiophene (DBT). Thus, they are not applicable to in-situ coupling desulfurization technology. Gamma-Al2O3 can adsorb DBT from oil phase quickly, and then desorb it and transfer it to R-8 cells for biodegradation, thus increasing desulfurization rate. It is also found that nano-sized γ-Al2O3 increases desulfurization rate more than regular-sized γ-Al2O3. Therefore, nano-γ-Al2O3 is regarded as the better adsorbent for this in-situ coupling desulfurization technology.

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Correspondence to Xing JianMin or Liu HuiZhou.

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Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No: 2006CB202507) and National High-tech R&D Program (Grant No: 2006AA02Z209)

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Zhang, H., Liu, Q., Li, Y. et al. Selection of adsorbents for in-situ coupling technology of adsorptive desulfurization and biodesulfurization. Sci. China Ser. B-Chem. 51, 69–77 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-007-0118-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-007-0118-5

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