Preparation and Properties of Pelletized Activated Carbons Using Coconut Char and Coal-Tar Pitch

A series of activated carbons were prepared from coconut shells and coal-tar pitch binder by physical activation with steam in this study. The effect of variable processes such as activation temperature, activation time and ratio of mixing was investigated for optimizing those preparation parameters. The activation processes were carried out continuously. The nitrogen adsorption isotherms at 77 K on pellet-shaped activated carbons show the same trend of Type I by IUPAC classification. The average pore sizes were about 19-21${\AA}$. The specific surface areas ($S_{BET}$) of pellet typed ACs increased with increasing the activation temperature and time. Specific surface area of AC treated for 90 min at temperature $900^{\circ}C$ was 1082 $m^2/g$. The methylene blue numbers continuously increased with increasing the activation temperature and time. On the other hand, iodine numbers highly increased till activation time of 60 min, but the rate of increase of iodine numbers decreased after that time. This indicates that new micropores were created and the existing micropores turned into mesopores and macropores because of increased reactivity of carbon surface and $H_2O$.