ABSTRACT The massive combustion of coal and fossil fuels during the first and second industrial revolutions started the emissions of organosulfur compounds. The concerns associated with the presence these compounds have heightened with the increasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and exacerbated the problem of acid rain. This preliminary study proposes the bioremoval of dibenzothiophene (DBT) from synthetic gasoline and diesel fuels using dead biomass such as fruit peels. The peels of orange (OG), pineapple (PN), and lime (LM) were investigated in continuous-flow and batch experiments to determine their adsorption capacities as a function of initial concentration of DBT, type of adsorbent and adsorbent dosage. DBT adsorption follows the trend LM (12.3%) > PN (8.8%) > OG (6.9%) in gasoline with 50 mg, 125 mg, and 50 mg, respectively and LM (14.6%) > OG (4.2%) > PN (3.5%) in diesel with 50 mg, 75 mg, and 75 mg, respectively. Instrumental analysis suggests a polar adsorption mechanism between the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups that are present on the adsorbents and the sulfur-oxygen bonds present in DBT. Additionally, these fruit wastes display appropriate thermal and mechanical properties according to the thermogravimetric analyses. Adsorption dynamics experiments demonstrate the potential applications of these adsorbents in continuous-flow systems for the remediation and treatment of larger volumes of fuel. These preliminary results suggest that fruit peel wastes are a sustainable, low cost and eco-friendly alternative to removal of harmful organosulfur compounds from fuels.
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