Production of activated carbon from Luscar char: Experimental and modeling studies

Central composite design (CCD) was applied to study the influence of activation temperature, mass ratio of steam to char and activation time on the steam activation process of Luscar char. Two quadratic models were developed for BET surface area and yield of activated carbon using Design-Expert software. The models were used to calculate the optimum operating conditions for production of activated carbon providing a compromise between BET surface area and yield of the process. The BET surface area (502 m2/g) and yield (54.1 wt%) of the activated carbon produced at these operating conditions showed an excellent agreement with the amounts predicted by the models. The BET surface area of Luscar char was increased more than 10 times by steam activation. The high micropore to mesopore area of this activated carbon and its adsorptive properties such as methylene blue number, pore volume and average pore diameter showed its potential for different applications.