Abstract: The variations of structure, composition, and chemical properties of S-Zorb adsorbent during the industrial regeneration process were studied. The structure and composition of adsorbent were characterized by XRD and FT-IR analysis. The chemical state changes of sulfur atom on the surface of adsorbent were examined by XPS. The formations of SO42- compounds in bulk phase of adsorbent were discussed, using the XRD phase quantitative analysis combined with the carbon and sulfur content analysis. The morphology of adsorbent was characterized by SEM analysis. It is found that the desulfurization activity of adsorbent is deeply dependent on both the content of zinc silicate phase and the regeneration rate of ZnS phase. The regeneration rate of ZnS phase increases with increasing of the relative content of oxygen during the regeneration process with increase of the by-product ZnSO4 content at the same time. The morphology and particle size of adsorbent are not changed after regeneration.

Key words: desulfurization adsorbent, regeneration, ZnSO4, ZnS, zinc silicate