Investigation on effects of operating conditions in combined activation of char to develop the pore structure

In this study, activation of pistachio shell char was investigated by chemical, physical and combined activation experimentally using a TGA instrument and lab scale reactor. The effects of operating conditions such as activation time, temperature and impregnation ratio in the activation methods were studied via the weight loss and iodine number of the samples. The results showed that combined activation is the premium activation method. In addition, in this method. a temperature of 800 °C, a dwell time of 45 min and an impregnation ratio of 50 % are the optimum conditions which give a product with an iodine number of 2433 mg/g and a weight loss 52 %. A high iodine number of this activated carbon was developed at a moderate temperature and dwell time, and the weight loss confirms the advantages of the combined activation method. The products were characterized by SEM and FTIR analyses.