A comprehensive Review on Gasoline Adsorptive Desulfurization Using Activated Carbon

الملخص

The need for clean transport fuels in the future prompted a study of advanced desulfurization technologies. Sulfur compounds in gasoline have a negative environmental impact, due to which acid rains are formed, and from the point of view of human health, they cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems, including poisoning of engines and catalysts. The conventional method of hydrodesulfurization works perfectly, but it is usually carried out at high temperatures, it is not capable of removing refractory sulfur-containing species, thiophenes, and dibenzothiophenes, and it is too expensive. Adsorption desulfurization on activated carbon has emerged as a promising new approach due to its wide surface area, hierarchical porosity, and controllable surface chemistry. In this article, the latest developments in gasoline desulfurization using AC are reviewed with the latest feedstock advances for AC, surface modification methods, and adsorbate interaction mechanisms. It is concluded that the agricultural byproduct, specifically date pits, are the best source of activated carbon due to ecological and economic reasons. However, major problems still exist, such as poor adsorption capacity and the lack of regeneration and selectivity in the presence of various inhibitors. Future prospects for increasing the manufacturing of the molecule for AC-based ADS system design and deployment are projected as a feasible pathway to ultra-low-sulfur fuels.