DESULFURIZATION OVER METAL ZEOLITES

Metal oxides supported on zeolites have been demonstrated to be effective regenerable desulfurization agents for high temperature removal of hydrogen sulfide from fossil fuels. Metals of interest are iron and zinc. Zeolites of particular interest are commercially available zeolites with high hydrothermal stability such as synthetic mordenite and rare earth stabilized faujasite Y. The metals used as desulfurization agents are introduced by cation exchange. Zinc faujasite Y is of particular interest because of the demonstrated ability to reduce the hydrogen sulfide to several PPM concentration range in the desulfurized fuel in the temperature range of 500 to 650 C.