Study of the oxidative regeneration properties of sulphided metal oxides
Metal oxide based materials are commonly used for the final desulphurization of syngas in IGCC andFisher-Tropsch based XTL processes. The formation of large amount of solid waste is a major issue forthis process. The in-situ oxidative regeneration is a promising way to avoid the waste formation and toenhance process efficiency. However, the formation of refractory metal sulphates during the regenerationprocess requires an increase of the regeneration temperature, in order to decompose the species and toallow the sorbent regeneration. In this work, we have studied the use of composed metal oxides todecrease the regeneration temperature, and the related physic-chemical phenomena involved.Thermochemical and experimental studies on various single oxides outlined the specific reactivity ofZnO and MoO3 phases. Consequently a more thorough study on ZnO and MoO3 composed metal oxideswas performed. In particular, it was shown that ZnMoO4, zinc molybdate phase can be regenerated attemperature as low as 500°C. This low regeneration temperature was explained by the sulphided solidtexture and the oxidation of the molybdenum species. Finally a shaped ZnMoO4 was synthesized andtexted on a lab-scale breakthrough experimental device to validate the concept and give guideline for thedesign of industrial regenerable sorbent.