Low-temperature H 2 S removal for solid oxide fuel cell application with metal oxide adsorbents

The desulfurization of biogas is essential for the successful operation of solid oxide fuel cells. H 2 S is one of the main components in biogas. In order to feed a solid oxide fuel cell, the contaminated gas has to be reduced to a certain degree. In this work, different parameters onto the desulfurization performance of commercially available desulfurization adsorbents were investigated. The experiments were carried out using a custom made lab-scale unit. Synthetic biogas was passed through the sorbent bed and the outlet H 2 S concentration was measured. Experimental runs in a fixed bed reactor were conducted to monitor H 2 S removal efficiency of a zinc oxide adsorbent, an adsorbent based on a mixture of manganese and copper oxide and a zeolite adsorbent. H 2 S removal efficiency was monitored under various operating conditions such as different temperatures, space velocities and inlet concentrations. This work provides useful data for adsorption tower design and process optimization.