Paper Title
Extractive Adsorptive Desulfurization Technique for Heavy Fuel Oil Using Cheap Bio-Waste Adsorbents
Abstract
Extractive-adsorption desulfurization was implemented for heavy fuel oil (HFO) using cheap bio-waste
adsorbents. This is a non-conventional technique for sulfur recovery process. Bio-waste date palm kernel was used in
different forms. Date palm kernel powder (DPKP) was the main potential adsorbent. Five forms of DPKP were used; DPKP
without any treatment, carbonized DPKP (CDPKP), acid activated CDPKP (AACDPKP), ZnCl2 activated DPKP (ZnCl2
DPKP), and ZnCl2 activated carbonized DPKP (ZnCl2 CDPKP). Many operating variables were applied; different solvents at
different temperatures and solvent to oil ratios. This research work is to optimize the best operating conditions for the highest
sulfur recovery with proper resulting physical properties for environment impact. The results showed that the carbonized
DPKP activated by ZnCl2 had the highest performance in sulfur recovery using methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) with 3:1 solvent
to oil ratio over two hours of contact time. Sulfur recovery was 45.85% at 50oC. This process was able to reduce the amount
of carbon residue, ash content, asphaltene content, and heavy metals content. This improvement has a positive significant
environmental impact by reducing the emission of harmful materials to the atmosphere.
Keywords - non-conventional adsorption desulfurization, heavy fuel oil, date palm kernel powder, activation process