99/00046 High surface area active carbon from coal

Abstract

Recently, more and more attention has been paid to environment problems. Active carbon (AC) has been developed rapidly due to its good adsorption properties. Now, various kinds of AC with different pore structure and chemical property could be made according to the requirements of industrial applications. In America, high surface area active carbon (HSAC) has been made from petroleum coke and coal. It has also been commercialized in Japan by Kansai Coke and Chemicals Company from petroleum coke named Maxsorb. This kind of AC possesses high surface area (above 3,000 m{sup 2}/g) and excellent adsorption capacity. So, it could be used in a high performance adsorption system as well as in conventional situations. For example, it could be used for a high efficient capacitor, high capacity fuel battery and adsorption/separation of CH{sub 4}. However, HSAC from coal hasn`t been well studied in China. In this paper, using coal as raw material and KOH as activating agent, HSAC with surface area in excess of 3,000 m{sup 2}/g was made. The pore width of this AC were in the micropore range with concentrated distribution. It has also low ash content.