Performance of an activated carbon made from waste palm shell in simultaneous adsorption of SOx and NOx of flue gas at low temperature

This study examined the individual and simultaneous adsorption of SOx (SO2) and NOx (NO-NO2) on activated carbon prepared from waste palm shell. The adsorption process was examined in a fixed bed reactor at low temperatures (100 degrees C-300 degrees C). For individual adsorption without any catalytic activation, SOx showed good adsorption whereas NOx was very much poor. In the simultaneous adsorption of SOx and NOx, SOx showed greater adsorption affinity than NOx. For palm shell activated carbon (PSAC) impregnated with metal catalyst (Ni and Ce) the concentration adsorbed profile showed that the amount of SOx adsorbed decreased regularly, while the amount of the adsorbed NOx increased irregularly. The properties of the pure and impregnated PSAC were analyzed by BET, SEM and EDX. These investigations indicated that PSAC impregnated with metal catalyst is the determining factor in the adsorption of SOx and NOx simultaneously.