Hydrogen sulfide removal from biogas using ion-exchanged nanostructured NaA zeolite for fueling solid oxide fuel cells

Hydrogen sulfide is the most abundant sulfur compound in the biogas, and in order to use for fueling the solid oxide fuel cells, its content should be less than 1 ppm. In this work, NaA nano zeolite is synthesized hydrothermally and modified by Ag' ions, and its breakthrough capacity for hydrogen sulfide adsorption was measured using dynamic lab-scale adsorption tests on the experimental set-up for the first time. The results are compared to those of unmodified NaA nano zeolite and micron-sized commercial 4A zeolite. AgNaA nano zeolite showed the highest adsorption capacity (33.24 mg H2S/g of Sorbent) and the longest breakthrough time (310 min). The regeneration performance of AgNaA nano zeolite and its structural stability are also investigated after five cycles. The results revealed that the AgNaA nano zeolite could be used promisingly for removing hydrogen sulfide from biogas for cleaner energy production. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.