Nashrieh Shimi va Mohandesi Shimi Iran

Nashrieh Shimi va Mohandesi Shimi Iran

Adsorption Performance of Elemental Mercury Sorbents from Simulated Natural Gas through Copper Sulfide Supported Alumina

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
Ali Karimi
Ali Cheshmeh Roshan
Maryam Mashayekhi
Catalyst Technology Development Research Institute, Oil Industry Research Institute, Tehran, I.R. IRAN
Abstract
Natural gas, petrochemical and some refinery feed streams have trace of mercury which threats the environment and human health. Moreover, brazed aluminum heat exchangers are susceptible to corrosive attack by this component. This study discusses adsorption performance of elemental mercury sorbents from simulated natural gas (SNG) by copper sulfide pported active alumina. All sorbents were characterized through XRD, BET, TEM, XRF, LECO carbon/sulfide analyzer. The simulated natural gas creates by evaporating the liquid mercury contained in a thermostat glass saturator at temperature of 60oC into a stream of pure nitrogen. These sorbents were loaded in a fixed-bed reactor and sulfided with a nitrogen gas containing 8 % mol of H2S at the temperature of 285oC overnight. Then, the effect of sorbent samples for removing mercury was tested at the temperature of 60oC, pressure of 1atm and SNG flowrate of 220 cm3/min, and in several steps in terms of time the results were reported. The characterization results of suitable sorbent showed its meso pore is higher and capacity is larger than other sorbent. Experiments have showed the suitable sorbent removed approximately 19 percent of mercury exist in SNG with respect to sorbent's weight.
Keywords
Mercury
Mercury sorbent
Copper sulfide
Activated alumina
Simulated natural gas

Subjects

[1] Li Y., Yu J., Liu Y., Huang R., Wang Z., Zhao Y., A Review on Removal of Mercury from Flue Gas Utilizing Existing Air Pollutant Control Devices (APCDs), Journal of Hazardous Materials, 427: 128132 (2022).
[2] Chalkidis A., Jampaiah D., Hartley P.G., Sabri Y.M., Bhargava S.K., Mercury in Natural Gas Streams: A Review of Materials and Processes for Abatement and Remediation, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 382: 121036 (2020).
[3] Sun H., Zhao S., Ma Y., Wu J., Liang P., Yang D., Zhang H., Effective and Regenerable Ag/4A Zeolite Nanocomposite for Hg0 Removal from Natural Gas, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 762: 520-527 (2018).
[4] Zhang H., Zhang D., Chen S., Li M., Liang P., Nanoconfinement of Ag Nanoparticles Inside Mesoporous Channels of MCM-41 Molecule Sieve as a Regenerable and H2O Resistance Sorbent for Hg0 Removal in Natural Gas, Chemical Engineering Journal, 361: 139-147 (2019).
[5] Zhang Z., Wu J., Li B., Xu H., Liu D., Removal of Elemental Mercury from Simulated Flue Gas by ZSM-5 Modified with Mn-Fe Mixed Oxides, Chemical Engineering Journal, 375: 121946 (2019).
[6] Rastelli H., Gorawara J.K., Simonetti D.A., Process for the Removal of Mercury from Hydrocarbon Streams Containing Oxygen, US9670422B2 (2017).
]7 [ولدخانی ا.، کارگشا ک.، امینی م.ح.، ساخت ابزارهای گیراندازی اتم، تولید کننده بخار سرد اتمی و تولید کننده هیدرید در اسپکترومتر جذب اتمی شعله ای و اندازه گیری کادمیم، جیوه و آرسنیک با حساسیت بالاتر، نشریه شیمی و مهندسی شیمی ایران، (3)31: 1 تا 7 (1391).
[8] Eckersely N., Advanced Mercury Removal Technologies, Hydrocarbon Processing, (2010).
[9] Ralston, N., Nano-Selenium Captures Mercury, Nature Nanotechnology, 3: 527–528 (2008).
[10] Hamzehlouyan T., Sampara C., Li J., Kumar A., Epling W., Experimental and Kinetic Study of SO2 Oxidation on a Pt/γ-Al2O3 Catalyst, Applied Catalysis B, 152–153: 108–116 (2014).
[11] Zhou Q., Duan Y-F., Hong Y-G., Zhu C., She M., Zhang J., Wei H-Q., Experimental and Kinetic Studies of Gas-Phase Mercury Adsorption by Raw and Bromine Modified Activated Carbon, Fuel Processing Technology, 134: 325–332 (2015).
[12] Zou S., Liao Y., Xiong S., Huang N., Geng Y., Yang S., H2S-Modified Fe-Ti Spinel: A Recyclable Magnetic Sorbent for Recovering Gaseous Elemental Mercury from Flue Gas as a Co-Benefit of Wet Electrostatic Precipitators, Environmental Science & Technology, 51(6): 3426–3434 (2017).
[13] Yang S., Liu C., Liu Z., Yang B., Xiang K., Zhang C., Liu H., Chai L., High Catalytic Activity and SO2-Poisoning Resistance of Pd/CuCl2/γ-Al2O3 Catalyst for Elemental Mercury Oxidation, Catalysis Communications, 105: 1–5 (2018).
[14] Liu W., Vidic R.D., Brown T.D., Impact of Flue Gas Conditions on Mercury Uptake by Sulfur-Impregnated Activated Carbon, Environmental Science & Technology, 34: 154–159 (2000).
[15] Li H., Zhu L., Wang J., Li L., Shih K., Development of Nano-Sulfide Sorbent for Efficient Removal of Elemental Mercury from Coal Combustion Fuel Gas, Environmental Science & Technology, 50: 9551–9557 (2016).
[16] Li H., Zhu L., Wang J., Li L., Lee P.H., Feng Y., Shih K., Effect of Nitrogen Oxides on Elemental Mercury Removal by Nanosized Mineral Sulfide, Environmental Science & Technology, 51: 8530–8536 (2017).
[17] Li F., Wu J., Qin Q., Li Z., Huang X., Controllable Synthesis, Optical and Photocatalytic Properties of CuS Nanomaterials with Hierarchical Structures, Powder Technology, 198: 267–274 (2010).
[18] Liu W., Xua H., Liao Y., Quan Z., Li S., Zhao S., Qu Z., Yan N., Recyclable CuS Sorbent with Large Mercury Adsorption Capacity in the Presence of SO2 from Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Flue Gas, Fuel, 235: 847–854 (2019).
[19] Musmarra D., Karatza D., Lancia A., Prisciandaro M., Mazziotti di Celso G., A Comparison among Different Sorbents for Mercury Adsorption from Flue Gas, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 43: 2461-2466 (2015).
[20] Karatza D., Lancia A., Musmarra D., Zucchini C., Study of Mercury Absorption and Desorption on Sulfur Impregnated Carbon, Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 21: 150-155 (2000).
[21] Sotomayor F., Cychosz K.A., Thommes M., Characterization of Micro/Mesoporous Materials by Physisorption: Concepts and Case Studies, Accounts of Materials & Surface Research, 3: 34-50 (2018).
[22] Leyva-Ramos R., Medellin-Castillo N.A., Jacobo-Azuara A., Mendoza-Barron J., Landin-Rodriguez L.E., Martinez-Rosales J.M., Aragon-Piña A., Fluorine Removal from Water Solution by Adsorption on Activated Alumina Prepared from Pseduo-Boehmite, Journal of Environmental Engineering and Management, 18: 301-309 (2008).