High pressure adsorption of hydrogen sulfide and regeneration ability of ultra-stable Y zeolite for natural gas sweetening

Adsorbents are developing in the various separation industries; these adsorbents can use to sweeten natural gas and remove hydrogen sulfide. Many commercial adsorbents are not regenerable when exposed to hydrogen sulfide because hydrogen sulfide is highly reactive. For H2S removal, the main challenge when using surface adsorbent, is the dissociation adsorption of H2S and non-regenerability of adsorbent. In this study, ultra-stable Y (USY) zeolite, was chosen to adsorb hydrogen sulfide due to its unique physical and chemical properties. To accurately model the adsorption isotherms, experimental adsorption data were measured in high pressure up to 12 bar for hydrogen sulfide and 21 bar for carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen as other natural gas com-ponents. The experiments were performed at three temperatures of 283, 293 and 303 K. Toth model fitted the experimental data very well, and the capacity of hydrogen sulfide adsorption on USY at the temperature of 283 K and pressure of 12 bar is 4.47 mmol/g that is noticeable. By performing ten cycles of adsorption and regeneration of hydrogen sulfide on USY, the regenerability of the adsorbent was investigated and compared by conducting a similar test on commercial 13X adsorbent. USY is found to be completely regenerable when exposed to hydrogen sulfide. The Isosteric adsorption heat of hydrogen sulfide on the adsorbent is 18.1 kJ/mol, which indicates physical adsorption, and the order of adsorption capacity of tested compounds on USY is H2S > CO2 >> CH4 > N2.

Automated summary

In this study, the adsorption properties of ultra-stable Y (USY) zeolite were measured, and it was found that it has a high adsorption capacity for hydrogen sulfide and can be completely regenerated. The isosteric adsorption heat of hydrogen sulfide on the adsorbent is 18.1 kJ/mol, indicating physical adsorption, and non-regenerability is the main challenge when using surface adsorbents.