Some cobalt based sorbents for hydrogen sulfide desulfurization

PETR 120

Charles Rong, crong@arl.army.mil and Deryn Chu. Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, US Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783
Since sulfur containing molecules in petroleum based fuels have to be removed from fuel stream for reliable application in fuel cells, and fuel reformer and solid oxide fuel cell are expected to operate in temperatures between 600-1000ºC, research efforts are focused on stable desulfurization sorbent materials suitable for temperatures above 500ºC. We are exploring metal oxides supported on materials that have high surface area and are stable at high temperatures in comparison to the unsupported oxides. Our experiments have demonstrated that the supported sorbents can reduce the sintering of metal oxides during the desulfurization process for hydrogen sulfide removal in the reducing atmosphere of fuel reformate at 650 to 800ºC. In this presentation, the results of desulfurization, regenerability, and structural characterization of some cobalt based sorbent materials will be discussed.