Incidence of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in petroleum streams is critical especially because of its corrosive, toxic and environmentally hazardous characteristic. The present research examines the possibility of cassava peels as a source of activated carbon to be used as a non-hazardous and cost-effective adsorbent of H2S in the excess. The cassava peel received a thorough procedure of pre-treatment, carbonization and the phosphoric acid activation which resulted in a porous carbon structure. The characterization analysis consisting of Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrophotometer (EDX), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) technique quali-function measurements has shown that the activated carbon had the high surface area (990.5 m2/g), moderate pore volume (0.635 cm3/g), and mesoporous structure (average pore diameter: 3.25 nm). All these factors play an important role in defining the effectiveness of gas adsorption. The surface chemistry implied oxygenated functionality groups like hydroxyls, carbonyls, and carboxyl groups, which could potentially increase the physisorption and chemisorption of H2S. Other possible catalytic potentials in redox-based sulfur retention are revealed through trace elements like iron and zinc that were identified through EDX. SEM mapped images and XRD showed that the morphology of the material is disordered micro-mesoporous. The activated carbon was almost neutral with an acidic pH, which was 6.70, hence compatibility with the acidic gases. The study emphasizes that cassava peel activated carbon may be an excellent and environmentally friendly solution to remediate H2S production in petroleum refining.
Okologume et al. (Sat,) studied this question.