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An Assessment of the Conversion of Biomass and Industrial Waste Products to Activated Carbon

Author

Listed:
  • Eric N. Coker

    (Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA)

  • Xavier Lujan-Flores

    (Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA)

  • Burl Donaldson

    (Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA)

  • Nadir Yilmaz

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA)

  • Alpaslan Atmanli

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Defense University, 06654 Ankara, Turkey)

Abstract

The production of biochar from biomass and industrial wastes provides both environmental and economic sustainability. An effective way to ensure the sustainability of biochar is to produce high value-added activated carbon. The desirable characteristic of activated carbon is its high surface area for efficient adsorption of contaminants. Feedstocks can include a number of locally available materials with little or negative value, such as orchard slash and crop residue. In this context, it is necessary to determine and know the conversion effects of the feedstocks to be used in the production of activated carbon. In the study conducted for this purpose; several samples (piñon wood, pecan wood, hardwood, dried grass, Wyoming coal dust, Illinois coal dust, Missouri coal dust, and tire residue) of biomass and industrial waste products were investigated for their conversion into activated carbon. Small samples (approximately 0.02 g) of the feedstocks were pyrolyzed under inert or mildly oxidizing conditions in a thermal analyzer to determine their mass loss as a function of temperature and atmosphere. Once suitable conditions were established, larger quantities (up to 0.6 g) were pyrolyzed in a tube furnace and harvested for characterization of their surface area and porosity via gas sorption analysis. Among the samples used, piñon wood gave the best results, and pyrolysis temperatures between 600 and 650 °C gave the highest yield. Slow pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization have come to the fore as recommended production methods for the conversion of biochar, which can be produced from biomass and industrial wastes, into activated carbon.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric N. Coker & Xavier Lujan-Flores & Burl Donaldson & Nadir Yilmaz & Alpaslan Atmanli, 2023. "An Assessment of the Conversion of Biomass and Industrial Waste Products to Activated Carbon," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:4:p:1606-:d:1058961
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Malyan, Sandeep K. & Kumar, Smita S. & Fagodiya, Ram Kishor & Ghosh, Pooja & Kumar, Amit & Singh, Rajesh & Singh, Lakhveer, 2021. "Biochar for environmental sustainability in the energy-water-agroecosystem nexus," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Esin Apaydın Varol & Ülker Mutlu, 2023. "TGA-FTIR Analysis of Biomass Samples Based on the Thermal Decomposition Behavior of Hemicellulose, Cellulose, and Lignin," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Khodaei, H. & Álvarez-Bermúdez, C. & Chapela, S. & Olson, C. & MacKenzie, M.D. & Gómez, M.A. & Porteiro, J., 2024. "Eulerian CFD simulation of biomass thermal conversion in an indirect slow pyrolysis rotary kiln unit to produce biochar from recycled waste wood," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    3. Wang, Lin & Yang, Yongbin & Ou, Yang & Zhong, Qiang & Zhang, Yan & Yi, Lingyun & Li, Qian & Huang, Zhucheng & Jiang, Tao, 2024. "In-depth study on the synergistic conversion mechanism of iron ore with waste biochar for co-producing directly reduced iron (DRI) and syngas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).

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