Effect of Carbonization Temperature and Activating Agents to The Characteristics of Activated Carbon from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch
Yusuf Hendrawan (a*), Dimastyaji Yusron Nurseta (a), Rizki Utami (a), Daisy (b), M Ilham Akbar Trilaksana (a), Sumardi Hadi Sumarlan (a), Yusuf Wibisono (a)

a) Department of Agricultural Engineering, Universitas Brawijaya, Jl. Veteran, Malang, ZIP 65145, Indonesia
*yusuf_h[at]ub.ac.id
b)Department of Agricultural Product Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Jl. Veteran, Malang, ZIP 65145, Indonesia

Abstract

This study aimed to analyse the effect of carbonization temperature and type of activating agent which were best to be used in the chemical activation process in the manufacture of activated carbon from oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB). The process of making activated carbon consisted of three stages i.e. dehydration, carbonization, and activation process. The experimental design used was a randomized block design arranged as factorial with two factors i.e. the first factor was variations of carbonization temperature: 300 C, 400 C, and 500 C; the second factor was the variations of activating agent type: ZnCl2, CaCl2, CH3COOH, and without activation. The results showed a very significant effect on the carbonization temperature and the type of activating agent. The best results were achieved by the treatment of 500 C carbonization temperature and activating agent type of CH3COOH. The characteristics of the best-activated carbon consisted of 5.78% ash content, 19.84% volatile matter content, 74.39% fixed carbon content, the adsorption of iodine solution 1007.320 mg/g, Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area up to 1110.87 m2/g and had a surface hollow structure and open pores with a weight percentage atoms component of carbon reached 77.132%.

Keywords: Activated carbon; activating agent; carbonizations; palm fruit bunches

Topic: AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING