Efficiency, characterization, and kinetics during removal of COS and H2S in gasified syngas by red soil

[Display omitted] •LP red soil presented the best desulfurization due to higher Fe content.•Space velocity in 2,000–6,000 mL/h/g presented insignificant performance differences.•Increasing H2 stream in the system triggered the water–gas shift reaction.•Intense reaction in multiple regeneration process led to sintering. Application of red soil in dry desulfurization process for removal of H2S and COS from coal gasified gas is preferable due to its metal oxides content, sustainability, and low cost. This study examined the performance of several red soil types around Taiwan, including Loupi/LP, Houdi/HD, and Dadusan/DDS for removal of COS and H2S. LP red soil presented the best removal efficiency with 91.8 % utilization value and chosen in further assessment on the performance under various operating conditions and cycle test. Moreover, this study was also aimed to explore the type of active metal oxides for removal of COS and H2S, along with the reaction kinetics and exhausted gas analysis after the process. The presence of iron oxides in LP red soil beneficially supported the removal of COS and H2S. Moreover, increasing of CO content in the syngas prolonged the breakthrough time and utilization value. On the other side, higher H2 content triggered the occurrence of water–gas-shift reaction. The cycle test indicated sintering process due to intense reaction under high temperature which led to deterioration of performance. Analysis of reaction kinetics using both Type I and Type II deactivation models indicated their well fitting data with the data of this study.