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Abstract
A conceptual design of an industrial production plant for activated carbon was developed to process 31.25 tons/day of industrial waste nutshells as the raw material and produce 6.6 ton/day of activated carbon using steam as an activation agent. The design considered the cost of the main equipment, the purchase price of the nutshells, basic services, and operation. A sensitivity analysis was developed, considering the price of the finished product and the volume of raw material processing varied up to ±25%. Furthermore, the total annual cost of the product was determined based on the production of 2100 tons/year of activated carbon. Two cash flows were developed and projected to periods of 10 years and 15 years of production, using a tax rate of 27%, a low discount rate (LDR) of 10% per year, and without external financing. For a 10-year production project, the net present value (NPV) was USD 2,785,624, the internal return rate (IRR) 21%, the return on investment (ROI) 25%, and the discounted payback period (DPP) after the fifth year. Considering a project with 15 years of production, the NPV was USD 4,519,482, the IRR at 23%, the ROI 24%, and the DPP after the fifth year of production.
Highlights
There is a great interest in adopting more efficient and low-cost processes for the treatment of wastewater
Chemical activation consists of the impregnation of the raw material with chemical agents, such as KOH, ZnCl2, and H3 PO4, among others, and simultaneous carbonization of the impregnated biomass in an inert gaseous atmosphere, where the main role of the activating compound is the degradation of the cellulosic material [5,6]
The production process and operational parameters were proposed based on recent bibliographical data, which reported the obtaining of activated carbons from nutshells, using an inert nitrogen-based atmosphere for the pyrolysis stage and a flow of steam as an activating agent for the activation stage [13]
Summary
There is a great interest in adopting more efficient and low-cost processes for the treatment of wastewater. Chemical activation consists of the impregnation of the raw material with chemical agents, such as KOH, ZnCl2 , and H3 PO4 , among others, and simultaneous carbonization (pyrolysis) of the impregnated biomass in an inert gaseous atmosphere, where the main role of the activating compound is the degradation of the cellulosic material [5,6]. Two relevant processes are involved in physical activation. The first process involves the pyrolysis of the raw material in an inert atmosphere that usually uses a gaseous stream of nitrogen. The second stage of activation involves gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, or a mixture of these gasses with nitrogen or air in different proportions at high temperatures for the final activation [5,6]
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