The adsorption process was adopted to separate SO2 from surface modified haematite / III-ferric oxide with highly positive nano-particles. Ferric oxide was produced by precipitation at a different temperature rate. Adsorption of SO2 was performed in a dual packed bed column with different process parameters such as temperature, adsorbate rate to achieve balance of isotherm. Characteristics of adsorption have been studied such as concentration gradient, exhaustion time T0.95, mass transfer zone length (LMTZ), breakthrough time T0.05 and constant rate. Chemisorption between the surfaces of ferric oxide activated and the targeted adsorbate SO2 were strongly influenced between 45 and 50 °C. The adsorbent was analysed before and after the adsorption process using the X-Ray Diffraction Method (XRD), Atomic Adsorption Spectroscopy (AAS) to investigate adsorption properties such as porosity, specific surface area (152 m2g−1), adsorption capacity and characterization. The study showed that the activated ferric oxide surface affects the adsorption process capacity more than other metal oxide surfaces. Higher specific surface area (558 m2g−1) of ferric oxide activated adsorbed more SO2 than non-activated ferric oxide at room temperature. © 2020 The Authors