Response Surface Methodology for the Optimization of Kerosene Desulphurization using Kaolinite Clay
Authors: Shittu MA, Aroke UO, Giwa SO
DOI Info: N/A
ABSTRACT
The increasing effect of climate change being experienced worldwide due to high level of sulphur compounds among other pollutants means that existing technology must be improved to isolate sulphur from petroleum products like kerosene. Adsorption is a formidable process that can be applied for kerosene desulphurization. In this study, Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied through the central composite design (CCD) of experiment in optimizing the operating variables. The process was accomplished by a five level, three-factorial CCD with 20 runs with the operating variables (adsorbent dosage, time and temperature) using Design Expert 7.0.0. A second-order model equation was obtained for kerosene desulphurization as a function of input parameters. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the adsorbent dosage and adsorption time had a significant effect on the desulphurization process while temperature had a negligible effect. The adj. R2 (0.9162) and the pred. R2 (0.7830) showed that the experimental data and model predictions were in agreement. Optimization using the numerical approach gave the optimum value of 47.97% for kerosene fuel desulphurization at 0.1 g adsorbent dose, 290 minutes adsorption time and a temperature of 30.04 oC. The adsorbent can be successfully employed in the petroleum industry to reduce the sulphur level of kerosene.
Affiliations: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, PMB 0248, Bauchi, Nigeria.
Keywords: Sulphur, Kerosene, Desulphurization, Response Surface Methodology, Central Composite Design, Kaolinite Clay
Published date: 2018/12/30
