Synthesis, Design and Evaluation of Innovative Combined Nano-Catalysts Supported on Activated Carbon Prepared from Apricot Shells

Abstract

Clean fuel oil is crucial for a healthy environment and modern life. Therefore, removing sulfur-containing compounds is an effective issue using various techniques for desulfurization. In this study, the oxidation desulfurization (ODS) process was utilized with respect to the prepared new activated carbon (AC) made from apricot shells (AS) loaded by two combined active metals (Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese (NCM) and Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese-Molybdenum (NCMM)). Several characteristics related to the catalysts prepared (mainly SBET, pore volume, FTIR, TGA, SEM, EDX and XRD) have been investigated to analyze the produced nanocatalysts. The new nanocatalysts (NCM/AC and NCMM/AC) were generated by using the impregnation wetness incipient (IWI) method and evaluated for their ability to remove sulfur compounds from whole-cut fuel (from 29-345 °C) based on the air as an oxidant within batch reactor under the following conditions: air flow rate = 2 lit/min, reaction temperature = 90 °C, and reaction time of 60 min for both catalysts. It was found that Nano catalyst NCMM/AC performed better overall in removing sulfur components (57.29 %) than Nano catalyst NCM/AC (44.75 %), and excellent properties have been observed.