Coal tar residues based activated carbon: preparation and characterization

•Activated carbon was produced from coal tar residues (CRT).•H3PO4 accelerates the reaction rate and reduces the activation temperature.•At 850 °C, activated carbon has an iodine value of 793.5 mg/g.•Carbonization followed by activation stages with gas release is noted.

Coal tar residues (CRT) are a toxic and carcinogenic waste from coal tar processing unit that need extensive post-treatment before their safe disposal. This study prepared activated carbon from coal tar residues using activating H3PO4 at 650–1200 °C. At 850 °C, the yielded activated carbon has an iodine value of 793.5 mg/g, total pore volume of 0.286 cm3/g and micropore volume of 0.255 cm3/g, which can have feasible usage as mediate quality activated carbon. Kinetic model fitting reveals that the presence of H3PO4 increases effective reaction collision rate and decreases activation energy of pyrolysis reactions.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide