ADIGRAT UNIVERISTY

College Of Engineering and Technology

Department of Chemical Engineering
Course title:
Course code:
Project Title: Preparation of activated carbon from spent label paper

Group members
Name ID NO

1. Demoz Birhanu 0389/06

2. Haftom Mesele 0721/06
3. Sabela Negash 1258/06
4.Yodit Yibrah 1648/06

Submitted to: Submission: Date 12/05/2010E.C

Dr.kibrom
Abstract
The purpose of this study is the preparation of activated carbon using a spent label paper. The
activated carbon produced from pyrolysis of spent label paper was chemically activated with
various activating agents like zinc chloride, potassium hydroxide and potassium chloride. A
systematic investigation of the effect of impregnation ratio, activation temperature and activation
time on the properties of the activated carbon was done. The chemically activated carbons were
characterized by measuring iodine and yield percentage. The activated carbon prepared from spent
label paper in this study had maximum iodine of 764.80 mg/g with ZnCl2 as the activating agent.

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CHAPTER ONE
1. ACTIVATED CARBON
1.1 Introduction
Activated carbon, also widely known as activated charcoal or activated coal is a form of carbon
which has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to have a very large surface area
available for adsorption or chemical reactions. []The word active is sometimes used in place of
activated. Due to such high degree of micro porosity, just 1 gram of activated carbon has a surface
area in excess of 500 m2. As typically determined by nitrogen gas adsorption Sufficient activation
for useful applications may come solely from the high surface area, though further Chemical
treatment generally enhances the adsorbing properties of the material. Activated carbon is most
commonly derived from charcoal.
1.2 Preparation of activated carbon:
Activated carbon is carbon produced from carbonaceous source materials such as bamboo, coconut
husk, willow peat, wood, coir, lignite, coal, and petroleum pitch. It can be produced by one of the
following processes:

1.2.1 Physical activation

The source material is developed into activated carbons using hot gases. Air is then introduced to
burn out the gasses, creating a graded, screened and de-dusted form of activated carbon. This is
generally done by using one or a combination of the following processes:

Carbonization: Material with carbon content is pyrolyzed at temperatures in the range 600–900 °C,
usually in inert atmosphere with gases like argon or nitrogen

Activation/Oxidation: Raw material or carbonized material is exposed to oxidizing atmospheres

(oxygen or steam) at temperatures above 250 °C, usually in the temperature range of 600–1200 °C.

1.2.2 Chemical activation

Prior to carbonization, the raw material is impregnated with certain chemicals. The chemical is
typically an acid, strong base, or a salt[12] (phosphoric acid, potassium hydroxide, sodium
hydroxide, calcium chloride, and zinc chloride 25%). Then, the raw material is carbonized at lower
temperatures (450–900 °C). It is believed that the carbonization / activation step proceeds
simultaneously with the chemical activation. Chemical activation is preferred over physical
activation owing to the lower temperatures and shorter time needed for activating material.

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