New insights into the mechanism of reactive adsorption desulfurization on Ni/ZnO catalysts:Theoretical evidence showing the existence of interfacial sulfur transfer pathway and the essential role of hydrogen

As well known in the petroleum industry and academia,Ni/ZnO catalysts have excellent desulfurization performance.However,the sulfur transfer mechanism of reactive adsorption desulfurization(RADS)that occurs on Ni/ZnO catalysts remains controversial.Herein,a periodic Ni nanorod supported on ZnO slab was built to represent the Ni/ZnO system,and density functional theory calculations were performed to study the sulfur transfer process and the role of H_(2)within the process.The results elucidate that the direct solid-state diffusion of S from Ni to interfacial oxygen vacancies(Ov)is more favorable than the hydrogenation of S to SH/H_(2)S on Ni and the subsequent H_(2)S desorption,and accordingly,H_(2)O is produced on Ni rather than on ZnO.Ab initio thermodynamics analysis shows that the hydrogen atmosphere applied in preparing Ni/ZnO catalysts greatly promotes the O_(v)formation on ZnO surface,which accounts for the presence of interfacial O_(v)in freshly prepared catalysts.Under RADS condition,hydrogenation of interfacial O atoms to form O-H groups facilitates the reverse spillover of these lattice O atoms from ZnO to Ni,accompanied with the interfacial O_(v)generation.In contrast to the classic S transfer mechanism via H_(2)S,the present work clearly demonstrates that the interfacial S transfer is a feasible reaction pathway in the RADS mechanism.More importantly,the existence of interfacial O_(v)is an essential prerequisite for this interfacial S diffusion,and H_(2)plays a key role in facilitating the O_(v)formation.

Reactive adsorption desulfurization coupling aromatization on Ni/ZnO-Zn_6Al_2O_9 prepared by Zn_xAl_y(OH)_2(CO_3)_z·x H_2O precursor for FCC gasoline

Aiming to improve the reactive adsorption desulfurization（RADS） performances of Ni/Zn O adsorbents,ZnxAly（OH）2（CO3）z·x H2 O precursor is synthesized by coprecipitation of Zn2＋,AlO-2,and CO2-3; the Zn OZn6Al2O9 composite oxides are obtained by the calcination of ZnxAly（OH）2（CO3）z·x H2 O precursor,and the Ni/Zn O-Zn6Al2O9（6.0 wt% Ni O） adsorbents are prepared by wetness impregnation method. The phase,acid strength,acid type and quantity,morphology,and thermal properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction,temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia,pyridine-adsorbed infrared spectrum,high-resolution transmission electron microscopy,and Thermo Gravimetry-Derivative Thermo Gravimetry（TG-DTG）,respectively. The breakthrough sulfur capacities of six adsorbents are between 34.2 and 47.9 mg/gcat. The kinetic studies indicated that the active energy of RADS（49.4 k J/mol） could reach nano-sized Zn O,the particle size of is about 12.0 nm. All the excellent RADS performances can be due to the high SBET. Also,there are some extents of aromatization reactions that occur,which can be contributed to the B？nsted acid rooted in Zn6Al2O9 composite oxide,and the octane number of products can be preserved well.

Effect of Mixed Oxide Support for Ni/ZnO in Reactive Adsorption Desulfurization

The effect of mixed oxide support on the performance of Ni/ZnO in the reactive adsorption desulfurization(RADS) reaction was investigated in a fixed bed reactor by using thiophene as the sulfur-containing compound in the model gasoline. A series of oxide supports for Ni/ZnO were synthesized by the co-precipitation method and characterized by XRD, N_2-adsorption, TPR and NH_3-TPD techniques. It was found that the desulfurization capacity of Ni/ZnO was enhanced greatly when active components were supported on the proper mixed oxide. Ni/ZnO supported on oxides exhibited much higher desulfurization efficiency and sulfur adsorption capacity than the unsupported Ni/ZnO and the synthesized Ni/ZnO-SA adsorbent exhibited the highest efficiency for thiophene removal. The higher desulfurization activity and sulfur capacity of Ni/ZnO supported on SiO_2-Al_2O_3 with small particle size, high specific surface area and large pore volume could promote the high dispersion of active metal phase and the transfer of sulfur to ZnO with lower mass transfer resistance. γ-Al_2O_3 species could weaken the interaction of active phases and SiO_2 as well as could increase greatly the amount of weak acids. Therefore, these oxides could impose a great influence on the structure and chemical properties of the catalyst.

Remarkably high performance of clew-like ZnO superstructure in reactive adsorption desulfurization

In this study,a clew-like ZnO superstructure was synthesized by a copolymer-controlled self-assembly homogeneous precipitation method. Ni was impregnated to the clew-like ZnO superstructure to obtain Ni/ZnO adsorbents.The synthesized materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,N_2 sorption,X-ray diffraction,Fourier transform infrared spectrometry,and H2-temperature programmed reduction techniques. The reactive adsorption desulfurization（RADS）performance of the adsorbents was evaluated in a fixed bed reactor using thiophene in n-octane as a model fuel. Sample Ni/ZnO-4h exhibits a remarkably high performance with a sulfur capacity of 189.1 mg S g^（-1）,which is above 6 times that of the one prepared with commercial ZnO. Characterization results show that the morphology changes from micro-clews to large solid sticks with the increase of the crystallization time.The loose and open architecture of the clew-like ZnO superstructure facilitates the diffusion of reactants/products,and prevents the adsorbent particles from breakage by supplying space for the volume expansion during the RADS process. The small nanoparticles in ZnO nanostrips result in a high sulfur adsorption capacity and also favor the dispersion of Ni,leading to an excellent RADS performance.