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Perovskite
Adsorbents for Warm-Gas Removal of Sulfur--Eltron
Research Inc., 4600 Nautilus Court South, Boulder, CO 80301-3241; 303-530-0263 ; www.eltronresearch.com
Dr. Michael V Mundschau,
Principal Investigator, eltron@eltronresearch.com
Mr. James Steven Beck, Business
Official, contracts@eltronresearch.com
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-07ER84666
Amount: $100,000
The DOE
is seeking new materials and processes to remove trace quantities of impurities
from hydrogen, including sulfur, metals, and other impurities. Currently, oxides based upon zinc are
commonly used to remove sulfur from industrial gas streams. However, in the presence of steam, and under
warm-gas clean-up conditions (250-450°C), standard industrial adsorbents based
upon zinc are not adequate. Sulfur must
be reduced to levels in the parts per billion by volume range, in order to
prevent poisoning the many types of catalyst used in the production of
synthetic fuels. Previous analysis has
suggested that a number of elements will form much more stable sulfides
relative to those of zinc and, therefore, could be used to form better
adsorbents for removal of sulfur in the presence of steam. This project will develop materials with a perovskite crystal structure, which contain elements with
high binding energy for sulfur, as improved adsorbents for the warm-gas removal
of sulfur.
Commercial
Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: The removal of sulfur from process streams should gain in
importance as coal and high-sulfur petroleum feedstocks
are increasingly utilized. Warm-gas
clean-up would save energy costs relative to processes that require the cooling
and re-heating of gas streams, along with the condensation and re-introduction
of steam.