Activated Carbon Production from Pyrolysis and Steam Activation of Cotton Gin Trash

Abstract

Cotton gin trash (CGT) was used to produce activated carbon via pyrolysis and steam activation. To determine the effect of pyrolysis temperature and time on the properties of activated carbon, optimization of the pyrolysis conditions at temperatures of 600, 700, and 8000C for 30, 45 and 60 minutes were made. Steam activation of the product char was prepared at temperatures range of 250-600oC and ambient pressure (14.7 psi) for 60 minutes while iodine number and ash analysis were conducted to evaluate the adsorption capacity of the produced activated carbon. Char production was found to decrease with increasing pyrolysis temperature and time. Whereas, the optimal increase in iodine number value from 200 to 427 was observed at 7000C and 45 minutes pyrolysis conditions. Using the concept of biomass iodine number, the adsorption property of the CGT activated carbon was found comparable with commercially available activated carbon from lignite, which had an iodine value of 600.