Avaliação da dessulfurização adsortiva de correntes derivadas do petróleo utilizando mcm-41 e paligorsquita ativada termicamente

Abstract

The increasing demand for production of petroleum products with high value, which must suit the stringent requirements of current legislation to reduce the sulfur content becomes increasingly necessary to use technologies, which combine efficiency and cost reduction for obtaining cleaner fuels. The major limitation of conventional treatment for sulfur reduction, the hydrodesulfurization (HDS), is the large amount hydrogen spending, energy and catalysts, generating a high cost’s process. In this work, the adsorption process was used in the desulfurization of compounds present in diesel currents with high sulfur content from refinery Potiguar Clara Camarão, RPCC using as adsorbents MCM-41 synthesized in this work, and palygorskite clay, thermally activated at temperatures of 400, 500 and 600°C. Adsorbents used were characterized by techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The determination of sulfur content in the samples before and after desulfurization was made by Fluorescence Spectrometry UV (FUV). Adsorption was performed in downflow column and the results indicated desulfurization efficiency to 78.5% using the natural palygorskite and 86.1% using MCM-41, in removing sulfur diesel, characterizing it as a promising alternative for the reduction of organosulfur compounds, with reduced costs for the current desulfurization process.