Effect of reaction conditions on regeneration performance of spent CeY sorbent used for thiophene adsorption

The CeY sorbent prepared by NaY zeolite ion-exchanging by cerium ion has been proved an excellent adsorption desulfurization ability. Thus, it is necessary to investigate its regeneration behavior after underwent desulfurization. In this paper, the spent CeY sorbent adsorbing thiophene in benzene (TBY) was regenerated by thermal treatment under various conditions. The desulfurization efficiency of regenerated TBY samples was measured by static adsorption experiment. The results show that the regeneration temperature, regeneration time and oxygen content are the main influence factors for the regeneration of TBY samples. The regenerated performance of sorbents is mainly affected by the retained contents of sulfur and carbon, and the strong B acid sites in TBY sorbent are not conducive to the recovery capacity of regenerated sorbents for the decrease of surface area and pore volume caused by relatively stable thiophene oligomers. The optimized regeneration condition is air atmosphere with the space velocity of 1000 h^?1 at 500°C for 1 h, and the corresponding desulfurization efficiency of regenerated TBY sample is over 96% of the fresh sample.