High temperature hydrogen sulfide adsorption on activated carbon: II. Effects of gas temperature, gas pressure and sorbent regeneration Original Research Article

Several types of activated carbon sorbents were evaluated for removal of H2S at high temperatures (400–600°C) in an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation process. Part I of this series of papers discussed the effects of gas composition and metal addition. Here we examine the effects of gas temperature, gas pressure and sorbent regeneration. Adsorption experiments with a zinc-impregnated activated carbon sample produced almost identical breakthrough times at varied temperatures (400–600°C). High pressure (10 atm) adsorption experiments showed significantly longer breakthrough times at 10 atm compared to 1 atm. Gaseous H2 sample regeneration was found to be the most effective regeneration method of the variety of methods analyzed, with all previously H2S adsorbed sulfur being removed in a H2 regeneration experiment. While additional research is necessary to further evaluate sample regeneration and multi-cycle adsorption/regeneration, results of temperature and pressure effect experiments are encouraging for IGCC applications.