Biochar derived from oil palm trunk as a potential precursor in the production of high-performance activated carbon

To develop more valuable application, oil palm trunk was successfully converted into activated carbon fibers (ACFs). An effective process of chemical treatment with dilute sulfuric acid was conducted to improve the thermal stability of primary fibers for further heating treatment. Carbon dioxide (CO2) was used as activator to produce much porous structure with various pore diameter. The specific surface area (SBET) and total pore volume (Vtotal) of resultant ACFs showed increasing trend as rise of activation temperature and time. The ACFs obtained under the temperature of 900 °C and time of 90 min exhibited highest SBET and Vtotal, which were more than 1800 m2/g and 0.7 mL/g, respectively. Meanwhile, more graphic carbon on the surface of ACFs were destroyed with prolonging activation time, resulting in the oxygen-containing functional groups formed during activation process with CO2. Due to the abundant pores and surface functional groups, the ACFs exhibited excellent adsorption capacity of chromium and would be an alternative material for industrial adsorption utilization.

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Enhancing the Decolorization of Methylene Blue Using a Low-Cost Super-Absorbent Aided by Response Surface Methodology

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26154430 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (15) ◽

pp. 4430

Author(s):

Nor Hakimin Abdullah ◽

Mazlan Mohamed ◽

Norshahidatul Akmar Mohd Shohaimi ◽

Azwan Mat Lazim ◽

Ahmad Zamani Abdul Halim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Methylene Blue ◽

Response Surface Methodology ◽

Activated Carbon ◽

Response Surface ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Contact Time ◽

Low Cost ◽

Aqueous Media ◽

Adsorbent Dosage ◽

Oil Palm Trunk

The presence of organic dyes from industrial wastewater can cause pollution and exacerbate environmental problems; therefore, in the present work, activated carbon was synthesized from locally available oil palm trunk (OPT) biomass as a low-cost adsorbent to remove synthetic dye from aqueous media. The physical properties of the synthesized oil palm trunk activated carbon (OPTAC) were analyzed by SEM, FTIR-ATR, and XRD. The concurrent effects of the process variables (adsorbent dosage (g), methylene blue (MB) concentration (mg/L), and contact time (h)) on the MB removal percentage from aqueous solution were studied using a three-factor three-level Box–Behnken design (BBD) of response surface methodology (RSM), followed by the optimization of MB adsorption using OPTAC as the adsorbent. Based on the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the three parameters considered, adsorbent dosage (X1) is the most crucial parameter, with an F-value of 1857.43, followed by MB concentration (X2) and contact time (X3) with the F-values of 95.60 and 29.48, respectively. Furthermore, the highest MB removal efficiency of 97.9% was achieved at the optimum X1, X2, and X3 of 1.5 g, 200 mg/L, and 2 h, respectively.

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Synthesis, Characterization, Adsorption Isotherm, and Kinetic Study of Oil Palm Trunk-Derived Activated Carbon for Tannin Removal from Aqueous Solution

ACS Omega ◽

10.1021/acsomega.0c03811 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (44) ◽

pp. 28673-28683

Author(s):

Adeline Lim ◽

Jiuan Jing Chew ◽

Lock Hei Ngu ◽

Suryadi Ismadji ◽

Deni Shidqi Khaerudini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Aqueous Solution ◽

Activated Carbon ◽

Adsorption Isotherm ◽

Kinetic Study ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Oil Palm Trunk

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Use of activated carbon to remove undesirable residual amylase from refinery streams

Sugar Industry ◽

10.36961/si18170 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 96-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gillian Eggleston ◽

Isabel Lima ◽

Emmanuel Sarir ◽

Jack Thompson ◽

John Zatlokovicz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

High Temperature ◽

High Performance ◽

Activated Carbons ◽

Amylase Activity ◽

Sugar Industry ◽

End User ◽

Customer Complaints ◽

Carry Over ◽

Very High

In recent years, there has been increased world-wide concern over residual (carry-over) activity of mostly high temperature (HT) and very high temperature (VHT) stable amylases in white, refined sugars from refineries to various food and end-user industries. HT and VHT stable amylases were developed for much larger markets than the sugar industry with harsher processing conditions. There is an urgent need in the sugar industry to be able to remove or inactivate residual, active amylases either in factory or refinery streams or both. A survey of refineries that used amylase and had activated carbon systems for decolorizing, revealed they did not have any customer complaints for residual amylase. The use of high performance activated carbons to remove residual amylase activity was investigated using a Phadebas® method created for the sugar industry to measure residual amylase in syrups. Ability to remove residual amylase protein was dependent on the surface area of the powdered activated carbons as well as mixing (retention) time. The activated carbon also had the additional benefit of removing color and insoluble starch.

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