The highly reactive element sulfur is one of the 6 air pollutants.It forms oxides on combustion of fuels. The primary disturbance caused by sulfur is; it discharge toxic gases and harm the metals and catalysts in engines. Hence, it has to be expelled out of the fuels.The generally adapted process of removing sulfur includes adsorption of sulfur using a liquid treatment. This process is found to be ineffective and tiresome as the fuel has to be cooled and reheated. To resolve the above issues, scientists have used metal oxide adsorbents. But, the solid metal oxide adsorbents performance is limited by stability issues.
The solid metal oxide adsorbents work at high temperatures and tend to lose their activity after few cycles making its stability an issue. Researchers came up with zinc titanate spun into nanofibers, which provided maximum surface area, are highly reactive and maintain structural integrity. The Nanofibers made up of zinc titanate grains scrubs the sulfur from the fuel more effectively.
The nanofibers are highly reactive and very efficient in removal of sulfur. The enhanced properties of nanofibers resist them from sintering, or clumping. These nanofibers are found to be very efficient in lowering the costs and improve the execution of fuel-based catalysis, and also in gas removal applications.
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