Investigation of activated carbon preparation possibilities from Turkish lignites

ABSTRACT MSc. Thesis INVESTIGATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON PREPARATION POSSİBÎLİTÎES FROM TURKISH LİGNİTES Çiğdem Sancı İnönü University Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences Department of Chemistry Engineering 92 + ix Pages 2001 Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Yunus Ona I The purpose of this study is to prepare activated carbons from two different Turkish lignites ( Gölbaşı- ADIYAMAN, Kangal- SİVAS ) by chemical activation. Activated carbons, with their, high porosity, are extensively used in industrial purification and chemical recovery operations. Most types of industrial activated carbons are produced from naturally occuring carbonaceous materials like coal, petroleum, peat, wood and other biomass. Coals of all ranks are important precursors for the manufacture of activated carbons. Because of its availability and cheapness, coal is the most commonly used precursor for activated carbon production. In this study, lignites were chosen as a precursor of activated carbon. Basically, there are two different processes for the preparation of activated carbon: Physical and chemical activation. Chemical activation consist of carbonization at a relatively low temperature ( e.g. 400-700°C ) in the presence of a dehyrating agent ( e.g. ZnCU, KOH and H3PO4 ) In this study activated carbons were prepared from raw( original), demineralized and pretreated lignites. Demineralized samples were prepared by using HC1-HF. The pretreatment process was performed by using benzene and THF( Tetrahydrofiiran). The preparation process consisted of ZnCU impregnation followed by carbonization in nitrogen at 500°C for 1 hour. The results reveal that the surface area resulting carbons change with the chemical ratio ZnCyiignite. KEY WORD: Activated carbon, Chemical activation, Lignite, Z11CI2 IT