Regenerable sorbent for natural gas desulfurization

In this: publication
By this: publisher
In this Subject: <a title="Materials & Manufacturing" href="/content/subcat?j_subject=190&j_availability=">Materials & Manufacturing
By this author: Alptekin, G&#246;khan ;&nbsp; DeVoss, Sarah ;&nbsp; Dubovik, Margarita ;&nbsp; Monroe, John ;&nbsp; Amalfitano, Robert ;&nbsp; Israelson, Gordon

Authors: Alptekin, Gökhan; DeVoss, Sarah; Dubovik, Margarita; Monroe, John; Amalfitano, Robert; Israelson, Gordon

Source: Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, Volume 15, Number 4, August 2006 , pp. 433-438(6)

Publisher: Springer

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $47.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

Sulfur-containing odorants are normally added to propane and natural gas supplies to facilitate leak detection. The sulfur in these fuels can poison the catalysts used in fuel-cell fuel-processing systems, thereby inactivating the surfaces of the fuel-cell anodes and resulting in degraded power generation performance. The sulfur content of natural gas or any hydrocarbon fuel needs to be reduced to very low levels to ensure long-term stable electrochemical performance for both high- and low-temperature fuel cells. This paper presents the development and test results of a new physical adsorbent for natural gas desulfurization. The sorbent effectively removes all sulfur-bearing compounds at ambient temperature with very high capacity. The new sorbent can also be fully regenerated by the temperature swing. In a series of tests, the sulfur adsorption capacity of the new material is compared with other commercially available and specially prepared sorbents. The results of the comparison tests are also summarized in this paper.

Keywords: dimethyl sulfide (DMS); fuel cells; hydrogen sulfide (H2S); mercaptans; natural gas desulfurization; odorants; physical adsorption; regeneration; solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC); sorbent; SulfaTrap; sulfur; tetrahydrothiophene (THT); tert-butyl mercaptan (TBM)