Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 20 No 6 (2016): 1390 - 1397

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/mjas-2016-2006-18

 

 

 

METHANE ADSORPTION PERFORMANCE OF THE PALM KERNEL SHELL-DERIVED CARBON MATERIAL ACTIVATED USING CO₂-STEAM SEQUENTIAL COMBINATION

 

(Prestasi Penjerapan Gas Metana oleh Karbon Teraktif Isirong Kelapa Sawit dengan Menggunakan Gabungan CO₂-Stim Secara Turutan)

 

Mohd Saufi Md Zaini and Syed Shatir A. Syed Hassan*

 

Faculty of Chemical Engineering,

Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: shatir@salam.uitm.edu.my

 

 

Received: 21 October 2015; Accepted: 14 June 2016

 

 

Abstract

A study was conducted to prepare activated carbon from ZnCl₂-treated oil palm kernel shell using the sequential combination of carbon dioxide and steam (CO₂ + steam) as activated agent. The development of pores of activated carbon and methane adsorption on the prepared activated carbon were investigated. The results show that the sequential combination of CO₂ and steam was a good combination producing activated carbon with high total pore volume of 1.0 cm³/g and BET surface area of 1548.0 m²/g. The resultant activated carbon contained microporous and mesoporous structure with a nearly balance volume percentage. The highest methane uptake in this study was 145.89 V/V at 10 bar and ambient temperature.

 

Keywords:  activated carbon, palm kernel shell, methane adsorption, porosity development

 

Abstrak

Satu kajian telah dijalankan bagi menyediakan karbon teraktif daripada isirong kelapa sawit yang dirawat bersama ZnCl₂ dengan menggunakan agen pengaktifan karbon dioksida dan stim secara berturutan. Dalam kajian ini, pembangunan liang pada karbon teraktif dan penjerapan gas metana telah dikaji. Hasil dari kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa kombinasi secara urutan bagi gas karbon dioksida dan stim merupakan kombinasi agen pengakifan yang baik dan menghasilkan karbon teraktif yang mempunyai jumlah isipadu liang yang tinggi iaitu 1.0 cm³/g dan luas kawasan BET sebanyak 1548.0 m²/g. Karbon teraktif yang terhasil juga mempunyai kandungan liang mikro dan liang meso yang hampir seimbang. Hasil kajian ini, penjerapan gas metana yang tertinggi adalah 145.89 V/V pada 10 bar dan suhu ambien.

 

Kata kunci :  karbon teraktif, isirong kelapa sawit, penjerapan gas metana, pembangunan liang

 

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