Hierarchical beta zeolites with SiO2 /Al2O3 molar ratios of 16 to 25 were obtained by alkaline treatment in NaOH solution. The effects of treatment temperature on crystallinity, textural properties and chemical composites were studied by XRD, N2 sorption, FT-IR and XRF techniques. The desulfurization performance of parent and alkaline-treated beta zeolites was investigated by static absorption in four model fuels, containing four sulfur compounds of different molecular sizes like thiophene (TP), 3-methylthiophene (3-MT), benzothiophene (BT) and dibenzothiophene (DBT), respectively. The crystallinity was observed to be successfully maintained when the treatment temperature was below 50 C. Mesoporosity of beta zeolite was evidently developed with alkaline treatment. The formation of mesopore remarkably improved the desulfurization performance for TP, 3-MT, BT and DBT, especially for DBT with larger molecular diameter. Though the addition of toluene in the model fuels resulted in a significant drop of the desulfurization performance of mesoporous beta zeolite, the introduction of cerium ions to some extent mitigated the effect of toluene, which means that both the adsorbents porous structure and the adsorption mode are responsible for the desulfurization performance. The adsorbent of cerium ion-exchanged mesoporous beta showed about 80% recovery of desulfurization after the first regeneration.
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