Microwave-Assisted Adsorptive Desulfurization of Model Diesel Fuel Using Synthesized Microporous Rare Earth Metal-Doped Zeolite Y

N. Salahudeen, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
A.S. Ahmed, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
A.H. Al-Muhtaseb, Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
B.Y. Jibril, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
R. Al-Hajri, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
S. M. Waziri, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
M. Dauda, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
J. Al-Sabahi, Central Instrument Laboratory, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.

Abstract

The microwave-assisted adsorptive desulfurization of model fuel (thiophene in n-heptane) was investigated using a synthesized rare earth metal-doped zeolite Y (RE Y). Crystallinity of the synthesized zeolite was 89.5%, the silicon/aluminium (Si/Al) molar ratio was 5.2, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area was 980.9 m²/g, and the pore volume and diameter was 0.3494 cm³/g and 1.425 nm, respectively. The results showed that the microwave reactor could be used to enhance the adsorptive desulfurization process with best efficiency of 75% at reaction conditions of 100 °C and 15 minutes. The high desulfurization effect was likely due to the higher efficiency impact of microwave energy in the interaction between sulfur in thiophene and HO-La(OSiAl).

Recommended Citation

Salahudeen, N.; Ahmed, A.S.; Al-Muhtaseb, A.H.; Jibril, B.Y.; Al-Hajri, R.; Waziri, S. M.; Dauda, M.; and Al-Sabahi, J. (2015) "Microwave-Assisted Adsorptive Desulfurization of Model Diesel Fuel Using Synthesized Microporous Rare Earth Metal-Doped Zeolite Y," The Journal of Engineering Research: Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24200/tjer.vol12iss1pp44-52