Removal of mercury from natural gas by a new activated adsorbent from olive stones

Benderdouche, Nouredine; Chemrak, Mohammed Amin; Bestani, Benaouda; Benallou, Mokhtar Benzekri; Cagnon, Benoît

dc.contributor.author	Benderdouche, Nouredine
dc.contributor.author	Chemrak, Mohammed Amin
dc.contributor.author	Bestani, Benaouda
dc.contributor.author	Benallou, Mokhtar Benzekri
dc.contributor.author	Cagnon, Benoît
dc.date.accessioned	2019-01-21T13:36:29Z
dc.date.available	2019-01-21T13:36:29Z
dc.date.issued	2018-01
dc.identifier.uri	http://e-biblio.univ-mosta.dz/handle/123456789/8786
dc.description.abstract	This study was devoted to the valorization of a plant waste (olive stones): that is widely available in Mediterranean countries in order to remove mercury from natural gas. The raw material from olive stones was prepared by pyrolysis, chemical activation with phosphoric acid, and physical activation under steam. Two olive stone-based granular activated carbons were prepared: one with the virgin stones, while the other was impregnated with sulphur. After treatment, the adsorbents obtained were characterized by determining the iodine number, the methylene blue index, and by estimating the porous properties by N2 adsorption at 77 K. Thermogravimetric analysis and infrared spectroscopy analysis were carried out to determine the functional groups before and after mercury adsorption. An experimental study of vapour-phase mercury adsorption by the activated carbons (virgin and sulphur-impregnated) and a comparison with a commercial material (HGR) were performed. The comparison, made by analyzing the adsorption in a continuous mode, showed that the proportion of sulphur and the porosity were important for the removal of mercury. In the conditions used, the mercury adsorption on the ACs studied follows a physisorption mechanism. The results showed that granular activated carbon-based olive stones (sulphur-impregnated) are very efficient to remove mercury (with 2864 mg/g) and also less expensive than commercial activated carbon due to their local availability.	en_US
dc.publisher	The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering	en_US
dc.subject	activated carbon, olive stone, sulphur, adsorption, mercury INTRODUCTION In recent years, Algeria has made considerable efforts to increase its agricultural production. The state policy focuses on agricultural subsidies such as interest-free credit and the planting of productive trees such as olive groves. Thanks to this policy, five million olive trees have been planted, producing 628 000 tons of olives per year. 25 % of this production is vegetable waste (olive stones),[1] which is traditionally used for combustion or is unused.[2] It would therefore be very interesting to valorize and to transform this waste to obtain new adsorbent materials that can be used to improve the quality of the environment by adsorbing pollutant compounds. Algeria is one of the world’s major exporters of natural gas (NG). This gas contains many undesirable elements that disrupt the operation of equipment including CO2, H2O, and heavy metals such as mercury.[3] In addition to its toxicity, mercury is highly corrosive to the metals with which it is in contact, forming amalgams. Aluminum alloys are among the most severely affected by this phenomenon.[4,5,6] For example, an explosion in 1973 at the Skikda liquefied natural gas plant in Algeria led to 27 fatalities and financial losses of $ 1 billion due to catastrophic failure of an aluminium heat exchanger through reaction with mercury contaminants. Mercury is a source of world contamination.[7] Worldwide mercury emissions from human activities are estimated to be 1000 to 60 000 t/year.[8] At gas industrial plants in Algeria, SONATRACH Company was obliged to install adsorption columns filled with activated	en_US
dc.title	Removal of mercury from natural gas by a new activated adsorbent from olive stones	en_US
dc.type	Article	en_US