Removal of thiophene compounds from model fuel with supported copper on activated carbon, adsorption kinetics, and isotherms

Abstract

Abstract In this study, the adsorption of thiophene compounds (TCs, comprised of thiophene (T), benzothiophene (BT), and dibenzothiophene (DBT)) from model fuel was performed with modified Active Carbon(AC). The single solute model fuel was prepared at 2000ppm, and the mixture concentration of components was performed for 3000ppm. Furthermore, thiophene adsorption from commercial fuel (kerosene) was studied. Based on the experimental results, the correlated parameters of adsorption isotherms, kinetic models, and Fisher factor were calculated. The pseudo-second-order model has the best fitting to experimental data, and the 10% Cu+ supported on acid-washed Activated Carbon (A1CN10) has the best-adsorbed amount of TCs (T, BT, and DBT), being 78, 96, 100%, respectively. The physicochemical characterizations for adsorbents were verified by the N2 adsorption-desorption surface area analyzer (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). In addition, the adsorbent-regeneration process was performed by two agitating methods and ultrasound impact was studied.