Adsorptive desulfurization of wild naphtha using magnesium hydroxide-coated ceramic foam filters in pilot scale: Process optimization and sensitivity analysis

• Published in: Chemical engineering and processing 2020-06, Vol.152, p.107937, Article 107937
• Main Authors: Salehi, Ehsan, Askari, Mahdi, Afshar, Saeedeh, Eidi, Babak, Aliee, Mohammad H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorptive desulfurization; Optimization; Sensitivity analysis; Temperature
• ISSN: 0255-2701; 1873-3204
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cep.2020.107937

[Display omitted] •Adsorptive desulfurization of wild naphtha was studied in pilot scale.•Mg(OH)2-surface coated ceramic foam filter was used as adsorbent.•Process was optimized using RSM methodology to maximize the sulfur removal efficiency.•Temperature was the dominating process variable based on the Sobol sensitivity analysis. Ultra-deep desulfurization for production of clean fuels is of great significance from environmental outlook. In this paper, adsorptive desulfurization (ADS) of wild naphtha was investigated in pilot scale using Mg(OH)2-impregnated aluminosilicate ceramic foam filters (ASCFs) as adsorbent. Effects of four operating parameters including temperature, pressure, adsorption bed length and initial sulfur concentration on sulfur removal efficiency of the process were studied via central composite design of experiment methodology. Sobol’s sensitivity analysis was employed to quantitatively determine the impacts of the operating parameters on the removal performance of the separation system. The process was further optimized for the maximization of sulfur removal. Sulfur removal was found to be favored at higher temperatures, pressures, bed lengths and initial concentrations. Maximum sulfur removal efficiency was found to be 89.75% at the theoretically optimized conditions of temperature =154.13 °C, pressure =6 bar, bed length = 106 cm and initial sulfur concentration of 3000 ppm. The theoretical optimal conditions were rechecked and found to be in 97% agreement with the actual experimental conditions. Sobol’s sensitivity analysis results disclosed that temperature is the most affective operating variable on the sulfur removal with more than 93% impact compared to the impact of all the other operating variables.