Technology▼Solutions Cutting the cost of sulfur removal
RALPH YANG AND ARTURO HERNÁNDEZ-MALDONADO
none have proven to be effective for removing large amounts of sulfur from fuels (Environ. Sci. Technol. Refiners are under immense pressure elevated temperatures (300–340 °C), 2000, 34, 142A–143A). to find an economical way to remove forming hydrogen sulfide gas. The Researchers at the University of sulfur from gasoline and diesel fuel, technology has been around since Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus believe as governments worldwide mandate the 1930s, and several companies they have now discovered a promistough new air-quality standards rehave recently developed new cataing new zeolite sorbent that could be quiring cleaner commercial fuels. In lysts to make the reaction more efjust the material the petroleum refinanticipation of these upcoming reguficient. Even so, to meet the new ing industry needs (Science 2003, 301, lations, researchers are developing regulations, many analysts predict 79–81). The new sorbent, which costs cost-effective new technoloabout $4.4 per kilogram, is gies for desulfurizing fuels that produced by a simple ion-excould keep refineries from change reaction in which Na+ going out of business. ions in zeolite Y are replaced Stringent U.S. EPA regulawith Cu+ or Ag+ ions. The retions for highway diesel, which sulting product is capable of will be phased in beginning in reducing the sulfur content 2006, require a reduction in in commercial diesel fuel sulfur content from the current from 430 to
