The Versatile and Tunable Metal-Organic Framework MOF for Condensate Decontamination

Abstract

Contamination of heavy metals especially for Mercury (Hg) and Arsenic (As) in condensates becomes one of major concerns in Natural Gas production due to theirs high toxicity and carcinogenicity. The key challenge to develop adsorbents for Hg/As removal is to find suitable porous materials with high adsorption capacity, long-term stability and easy to handle the toxic wastes after the adsorption process. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are one of promising porous materials constructed from metal clusters and organic linkers to create the 3D framework structures. MOFs are one of the promising adsorbents for removal of Hg/As from condensates owning to their versatile structures, tunable porosity, and tailorable chemical functionalities. In this work, Zr-based MOFs have been developed for dual removal of Hg and As species owning to their chemical stability in moisture conditions, which is highly desirable for industrial processes. Zr-based MOFs with different topology and pore size distribution have been synthesized for Hg/As adsorption to understand the contribution of porous structure on the removal of Hg/As species in condensates. The performance of Zr-based MOFs results showed Hg and As removal up to 99.5% in condensates from several petroleum sources. The removal efficiencies were found to be influenced by topology of MOF adsorbents and the speciation of Hg/As in different petroleum sources. In addition, Zr-based MOFs have proposed some future trends and challenges of porous material that can be used as an alternative to the conventional metal oxides and zeolites.