The simultaneous adsorption of quinoline and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene over adsorbents, based on alumina modified with boron and nickel under ambient temperature and pressure, was studied. The adsorbents were characterized by BET specific surface area, a potentiometric method for the determination of acid strength, electrophoretic migration, and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that the adsorbent containing nickel had better adsorption capacity than the adsorbent modified with nickel and boron, which was attributed to its greater acidity and ability to generate π-complexation between the adsorbent and the molecules. In terms of selectivity, quinoline was more adsorbed than 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene in all systems, due to the basic nature of quinoline. The experimental data in all cases were adjusted by three kinetic models (Yoon–Nelson, Yan and Thomas), and the regression coefficients in all models were close to one. Finally, the values of the kinetic constant obtained by the Thomas model were used to relate the adsorption capacity results.

Experimental biodesulfurization (BDS) data for dibenzothiophene (DBT) (1.0-7.0 mM) with Rhodococcus rhodochorus immobilized by adsorption on silica, were adjusted with liquid-film kinetic model (Fisher coefficient, F = 592.74 and probability value p << 0.05 and r² = 0.97). Simulations predict the presence of considerable amounts of DBT surrounding the particles, which would be available for the cells adsorbed on the surface of silica. The greatest percentage removal (50 %) was obtained for adsorbed cell system over the suspended bacterial cells (30 %), showing that sulfur substrates are more bioavailable when the bacterial cells are adsorbed on silica. The liquid-film modelling with diffusional effects provides proper theoretical basis to explain the BDS performance obtained using adsorbed cells.