Preparation and characterization of chars from oil palm waste Original Research Article

The feasibility of preparing activated carbons from extracted oil palm fibre, an abundant oil palm waste, was studied. Preliminary tests were conducted to investigate the influences of different operating parameters, such as initial material size, inert gas flow rate, heating rate, pyrolysis temperature and hold time, on the properties of the pyrolysed chars. The pyrolysed chars were characterized by a thermogravimetric analyzer for the proximate analyses and the pyrolysis kinetic studies, and by an accelerated surface area and porosimetry system for the determination of their BET and micropore surface areas and pore size distributions. The optimum conditions for pyrolysis were found to be for 0.5–1.0 mm material sizes at a final temperature of 850°C for 3.5-hour hold time, heating rate of 10°C min−1 and a nitrogen flow rate of 150 Nml min−1. For these conditions, chars with a maximum BET surface area of 521 m2 g−1 were obtained. Experimental results showed that it was feasible to prepare chars with high BET surface areas from extracted oil palm fibre. With further activation, the pyrolysed chars would be expected to improve their adsorption capability.