Adsorptive Desulfurization and Denitrogenation of Refinery Fuels Using Mesoporous Silica Adsorbents

Abstract

Adsorbed in what it's doing: Well-designed mesoporous silica adsorbents (see scheme) can contribute to the production of clean fuels through preferential adsorption of nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds from light gas oil and heavy catalytic naphtha in refinery streams. The adsorbent with Zr ions shows a higher adsorption capacity and affinity for sulfur compounds than its non-zirconia-containing counterpart.