HDS for fuel cell applications

The objective of this chapter is to investigate the feasibility of developing a catalytic hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process operating under low pressure and high temperature conditions to produce a near-zero sulfur content diesel suitable for fuel cell applications. As expected, it was found that decreasing the operating pressure will reduce the adsorbed hydrogen content on the catalyst surface and hence the percentage of sulfur removal (i.e. HDS activity). This is compensated by increasing the temperature which increases the catalytic activity and the hydrogen solubility, but at the same local bulk phase conditions the hydrogen coverage is decreased. Furthermore, the choice of the feedstock is an important factor. This chapter includes a comparison with other commercialized and under-development desulfurization processes, besides the conventional catalytic HDS process. Light is shed on types of HDS catalysts used to achieve low sulfur specifications.Chemical EngineeringApplied Science