A Design of Experiments Investigation of Adsorptive Desulfurization of Diesel Fuel

Adsorptive desulfurization of diesel fuel was investigated applying two Design of Experiments (DOE) methods. The experiments were carried out in a batch adsorption system using Chemviron Carbon SOLCARBTM C3 activated carbon as adsorbent. The first DOE method employed was a full factorial with three factors on two levels and five center points, and the second was Box-Behneken design with the same three factors but on three levels. The effects of individual factors and their interactions on sulfur concentration and sorption capacity were determined, and statistical models of the process developed. The first-order models predict the behavior of the system rather well but significant curvature was detected. Subsequently developed second-order models were able to give reasonably well descriptions of the system. The lowest achieved output sulfur concentration was 7.6 mg kg–1 with relatively low sorption capacity of 0.0861 mg g–1.