Effective Adsorptive Denitrogenation from Model Fuels over CeY Zeolite

Nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs) in high-temperature coal tar have a negative impact on its utilization. This work aimed to prepare a series of CexY adsorbents with superior capacity and selectivity by ion exchange, and further clarify the regeneration properties and adsorption mechanism. The adsorptive denitrogenation properties were evaluated at different temperatures using batch adsorption experiments in different model fuels. The implication of Ce loading on the adsorption properties has been studied. The results show that Ce0.2Y exhibits a remarkable performance in adsorption capacity. Ce0.2Y can reach 25.32 mg·N·g–1 absorption for quinoline and 23.78 mg·N·g–1 absorption for indole at 30 °C, which is much better than that of NaY. The effect of naphthalene on the adsorption of NCCs indicated that Ce0.2Y is much resistant to the influence of naphthalene. Furthermore, the regenerated adsorbents still retained better adsorption properties than NaY after five cycles. The adsorption mechanism for NCCs and naphthalene on Ce0.2Y was revealed by the IR spectra. By contrast, the interaction between Ce0.2Y and NCCs is stronger than the interaction between Ce0.2Y and naphthalene. The Ce0.2Y adsorbent preferentially adsorbed NCCs, which can be attributed to the introduction of Ce4+.