Experimental and CFD study of H₂S oxidation by activated carbon prepared from cotton pulp black liquor

A porous activated carbon (AC) was synthesized from cotton black liquor, and the synthesis process was optimized using response surface method (RSM). The AC prepared under the optimal condition was applied to the direct H₂S catalytic oxidation. Complete parametrical computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) model, coupling stoichiometric reaction with variation of porosity as the user-defined scalars (UDS), was developed to simulate the removal process. Various experiments, including breakthrough, pressure drops, and H₂S conversion at different experimental conditions, were carried out. The CFD model was validated by results from the experiments, as the experiment results were found to adequately match model predictions. Hence, the model developed in this study can be a useful tool for studying the fluid dynamics of H₂S oxidation by AC catalyst at investigated experimental conditions.