Fast and effective production of industrial grade activated carbon

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a flash heating method to produce in a short time industrial-grade activated carbon with a well-developed pore structure and high adsorption capacity. Hazelnut shells, rice husk, and corn stalks were impregnated with potassium hydroxide (KOH) and activated using flash and slow heating at different temperatures. The slow heating process was conducted with a heating rate of 10 & DEG;C/min, while no heating rate was applied in flash heating during activated carbon production. Obtained products were characterized by the X-ray diffractometer, fourier transform infrared, and BET surface area. It was observed that the surface area of ACs ranged from 1650 and 2573 m(2)/g by using flash heating, and 1005-3257 m(2)/g by using slow heating. Methylene and iodine number test procedures were applied to the final product to examine the adsorption capacity of the available pores. The methylene blue adsorption capacity was 714 mg/g which is the highest value using flash heating while 630 mg/g is the best value for slow heating. Iodine numbers were over 1000 mg/g for all obtained activated carbons. Consequently, the high methylene and iodine number values were attained with the flash-activated carbons, showing their high adsorption potential as an adsorbent compared to commercial activated carbon. The results of this study show that flash-activated carbon could be used as an alternative to commercial carbon and produced in a short time with a promising heating way.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of flash heating in producing industrial-grade activated carbon with a well-developed pore structure and high adsorption capacity. Hazelnut shells, rice husk, and corn stalks were impregnated with potassium hydroxide (KOH) and activated using flash and slow heating at different temperatures. The results showed that flash heating produced activated carbons with a surface area ranging from 1650 to 2573 m(2)/g, whereas slow heating produced activated carbons with a surface area ranging from 1005 to 3257 m(2)/g. The flash-activated carbons demonstrated higher adsorption capacity than commercial activated carbon.