Utilisation of gas fuel in charcoal activation process.

Palm oil mills form an essential part of the palm oil industry. The palm mesocarp fibre, palm shells and empty fruit bunches (EFB) are abundantly produced as wastes by the milling process of palm oil mills. Due to the availability of these wastes, the oil palm shell is used as a raw material to produce activated carbon. A batch-process, self-burning kiln was built to produce charcoal from palm shell. The design of the kiln was based on the traditional method of charcoal manufacturing. The operating parameters of the carbonisation process were carbonisation time, the air flow rate and the carbonisation temperature. The charcoal was then activated in a reactor, which was made from a stainless steel column of 10 cm ID and 30 cm high. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was used as a fuel to supply energy during the activation process. The gaseous products of combustion, mainly carbon dioxide and water vapour, were routed to the charcoal bed at the bottom of the reactor to mix with steam and air, which were supplied from their respective sources. The gaseous mixture was then used as the activating agent during activation. The operating parameters of activation were activation time and activation temperature. The quality of the charcoal and activated carbon produced was determined in terms of their surface areas and pore volumes. The activation process using the charcoal produced by the kiln successfully yielded a high porosity activated carbon.