The production of activated carbon from a bituminous coal

Devolatilization of an Illinois-basin coal was carried out under a nitrogen atmosphere in the temperature range 600 to 900°C. A vertical heated-wall fixed-bed furnace reactor was used. Char produced was activated in the presence and absence of steam using the same furnace setup. The surface area of the activated carbon produced was found to be equal to 54.4 m2g−1 when steam was absent and 226.2 m2g−1 when steam was present using the same process and conditions of activation. Breakthrough curves for the adsorption of toluene in water activated carbons prepared from that coal were obtained. They were compared with a commercially available activated carbon. On one hand, poor adsorptive properties were obtained for coal-carbons produced by the process of activation under oxygen-nitrogen gas atmospheres. On the other hand, it was found that good adsorption characteristics were obtained by using a steam-oxygen-nitrogen gas mixture. Following the preparation of activated carbon, it was necessary to treat the carbon produced in boiling distilled water. Boiling carbon in water for a short period of time (about 30 min), effectively improves the adsorption performance.