Investigation on activated semi-coke desulfurization

An activated semi-coke with industrial-scale size was prepared by high-pressure hydrothermal chemistry activation, HNO3 oxidation and calcination activation in proper order from Inner Mongolia Zhalainuoer semi-coke, which is rich in resource and cheap in sale. SO2 adsorption capacity on this activated semi-coke was assessed in the fixed bed in the temperature range of 60-170degreesC, space velocity range of 500-1300 h(-1), SO2 concentration of 1000-3000 ppmv, and N-2 as balance. The surface area, elemental and proximate analysis for both raw semi-coke and activated semi-cokes were measured. The experimental results showed that the activated semi-coke has a high adsorption capacity for sulfur dioxide than the untreated semi-coke. This may be the result of increase of surface area on activated semi-coke and surface oxygen functional groups with basicity characteristics. Comparison to result of FTIR, it is known that group of -C-O-C- may be active center of SO2 catalytic adsorption on activated semi-coke.