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Effects of pyrolysis conditions on the properties of activated carbons prepared from pistachio-nut shells

2004; Elsevier BV; Volume: 72; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jaap.2004.08.001

1873-250X

Aik Chong Lua, Ting Yang, Jia Guo,

Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamics

The feasibility of preparing effective adsorbents from pistachio-nut shell was studied. Optimisation of the pyrolysis conditions prior to activation was carried out to study the effects of pyrolysis temperature, hold time, nitrogen flow rate and heating rate on the properties of chars and activated carbons, whilst the CO2 activation conditions were fixed at a temperature of 900 °C, an activation time of 30 min, a heating rate of 10 °C/min, a CO2 flow rate of 100 cm3/min and a nitrogen flow rate of 150 cm3/min. The activated carbons were characterised by a thermo-gravimetric analyser for the proximate analysis, an ultra-pycnometer for the solid density and an accelerated surface area and porosimetry for the determination of the BET and micropore surface areas. The optimum pyrolysis conditions were found to be at a temperature of 500 °C for 2 h hold time, a heating rate of 10 °C/min and a nitrogen flow rate of 150 cm3/min. For these conditions, activated carbons with a maximum BET surface area of 778 m2/g were obtained. The experimental results show that activated carbons with a moderate BET surface area can be prepared from pistachio-nut shells.