Comparative Study of the Effects of Various Activation Methods on the Desulfurization Performance of Petroleum Coke

ABSTRACT

Petroleum coke, an economical carbonaceous material, has great potential application as activated carbon materials for the removal of SO₂. In this study, six common activation methods, including hydrothermal, high temperature, acid, alkali, H₂O₂ and Cu²⁺ activation were used to prepare activated petroleum coke. Their desulfurization performance was evaluated by investigating the dynamic SO₂ adsorption along with various relevant factors. The results demonstrated that the high-temperature activation could adjust the structure and chemical properties of petroleum coke, and the initial desulfurization efficiency of the obtained sample reach 76.4% with a surface area of 59.0 m² g^-1. The specific surface area of HNO₃-PC is up to 247.7 m² g^-1, as a consequence of exhibiting an obviously increased desulfurization performance with the SO₂ removal rate above 82%. The sample activated with KOH/coke ratio of 4:1 presented the optimal desulfurization performance with the SO₂ removal rate of 96.3% under the optimal conditions. Further comparative investigation on the physicochemical property properties revealed that both optimized texture structure and increased amount of active sites of activated petroleum coke were responsible for the high desulfurization performance. The obtained results demonstrated that activated petroleum coke as a unique carbonaceous material with several favorable properties could distinctly be a promising sorbent for acidic SO₂ in industrial flue gas desulfurization.