Abstract:
<p align="justify"> Acid-activated montmorillonite (smectite) clay was used to eliminate olefins and transform thiophenes and mercaptans present in aromatic BTX (benzene-toluene-xylene) streams from the aromatic extraction unit of COPESUL - Companhia Petroqufmica do Sul. The working temperature of the mineral clay was raised above normally specified values since difficulties were encountered to meet the specification for hydrogen sulfide in xylene and trimethylbenzene. The experimental results showed that montmorillonite (smectite) clay was suitable for olefin elimination and sulfur compounds transformation at higher reaction temperatures (200 °C) and that the useful life for catalytic operations could be prolonged by raising the temperature. </p>