Selective Adsorption of Vanadyl Porphyrin on Solid Adsorbent in the Presence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon: Kinetics, Equilibrium, and Thermodynamic Studies

The presence of vanadium compounds in heavy oils poses a significant challenge by poisoning and deactivating refining catalysts, making their removal an essential processing step. However, this process is challenged by the competitive adsorption of abundant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in heavy oils, due to the similar conjugated π-electron structure of PAHs and vanadyl porphyrins. In the presented study, the adsorption behaviors of vanadyl octaethylporphyrin (VOOEP) and 1-methylpyrene (1-MP) on various solid adsorbents were investigated. Among the adsorbents studied, the primary secondary amine adsorbent (PSA) demonstrated superior performance, achieving high VOOEP adsorption capacity and exceptional selectivity, even in the presence of a large excess of 1-MP. The adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamics of VOOEP and 1-MP onto PSA were studied. Four common kinetic models (pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion) were used for data fitting. The adsorption isotherms were modeled using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms. The adsorption kinetics for both VOOEP and 1-MP on PSA were best described by the pseudo-second-order model, while equilibrium data were well fitted by the Freundlich isotherm. Thermodynamic analysis confirmed that the adsorption of VOOEP and 1-MP on PSA is a spontaneous and exothermic process. The practical applicability of PSA was confirmed with a heavy deasphalted oil (HDAO), where it efficiently removed vanadium with high selectivity, with lower co-adsorption of desirable oil components. The results indicate that PSA is a promising adsorbent for effectively removing vanadium compounds from heavy oils.