Methane Adsorption Microcalorimetry By Activated Carbon Fibre Derived from Empty Fruit Bunch Fibre

• Main Author: Lee , Ting
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: T Technology; TN263-271 Mineral deposits. Metallic ore deposits. Prospecting
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/40994/1/Methane_Adsorption_Microcalorimetry_By_Activated_Carbon_Fibre_Derived_from_Empty_Fruit_Bunch_Fibre.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/40994/

Serat tandan buah kosong kelapa sawit ialah satu sisa pertanian yang boleh diperolehi dengan banyak dari industry pemprosesan minyak sawit. Dalam kajian ini, serat tandan kosong digunakan sebagai bahan pelopor bagi penyediaan serat karbon teraktif untuk aplikasi penjerapan gas asli. Serat karbon teraktif dihasilkan melalui pengkarbonan, diikuti oleh fizikokimia dan pengaktifan. Pengaktifan fizikokimia dijalankan dengan menggunakan rawatan asid sulfurik diikuti oleh aliran gas CO2. Kesan suhu pembakaran dan pirolisis yang berbeza terhadap sintesis serat kosong aktif telah dikaji. Tambahan pula, kesan rawatan asid ke atas serat tandan kosong telah dikaji dengan penggunaan asid sulfurik dan penukaran jujukan rawatan asid sebelum dan selepas pembakaran dan pirolisis. Intekalasi dan reaksi pengelupasan ke atas serat tandan kosong yang dirawat dengan asid sulfurik telah mengakibatkan kadar penurunan haba lebih tinggi berbanding dengan serat tandan kosong mentah yang tanpa rawatan asid. Luas permukaan BET dan jumlah isipadu liang yang tertinggi diperolehi masing-masing pada1049 m2/g dan 0.45 cm3/g daripada sampel-sampel serat karbon teraktif yang dirawat dengan asid selepas pengoptimuman parameter pemprosesan. Serat karbon teraktif menunjukkan liang mikro sebagai liang utama dengan kelebaran liang 1.2 nm yang memenuhi salah satu syarat sebagai penjerap yang sempurna untuk aplikasi penjerapan gas asli. Penjerapan maksimum isipadu metana oleh serat karbon teraktif didapati mencapai 136 V/V pada 298 K and 3.5 MPa (memenuhi syarat-syarat ANG praktikal). Kapasiti penyimpanan metana bagi serat karbon teraktif terpilih ini standing dengan kapasiti karbon teraktif komersil yang boleh didapati di pasaran, kebanyakan diperolehi daripada produk petroleum selepas merasionalisasi dengan ketumpatan pemadatan. Kemerosotan prestasi yang rendah dalam penyimpanan metana daripada penjerapan operasi kitaran berikutnya menunjukkan bahawa serat karbon teraktif yang diperolehi daripada serat tandan buah kosong mempunyai penggunaan semula yang baik dan sesuai untuk aplikasi penjerapan gas asli. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibre of oil palm is anagricultural waste available abundantly from palm oil processing industry. In present work, EFB fibre was utilised as a precursorfor preparation of activated carbon fibre (ACF) as an adsorbent for adsorbed natural gas (ANG) application. The ACFs were produced via carbonisation, followed by physicochemical and activation. Physicohemical activation was carried out using sulphuric acid treatment followed by CO2 gas flow. The effects of different combustion and pyrolysis temperatures on the prepared ACFs were analysed. In addition, the effect of acid treatment on EFB fibres was further studied by switching the sequence of acid treatment before and after combustion and pyrolysis. Intercalation and exfoliation reactions on the acid-treated EFB fibre due to sulphuric acid resulted in a higher thermal degradation rate compared to raw EFB fibre without acid treatment. The highest BET surface area and total pore volume obtained amongst the ACF samples treated with acidwas found to achievevalues as high as 1049 m2/g and 0.45 cm3/g, respectively, after optimisation of the processing parameter. ACF exhibited predominantly micropore with pore width of 1.2 nm, which fulfil one of the requirements as an ideal adsorbent for ANG application.The maximum volumetric methane adsorption by the ACFs was observed to be 136 V/V at practical ANG conditions; viz. 298 K and 3.5 MPa. The volumetric storage capacities of these ACFs were comparable to the adsorptioncapacities of selected carbon materialscommercially available in the market, which are mainly derived from petroleum products after rationalising with packing density. Low deterioration in methane storage performance from subsequent adsorption cyclic operation indicated that the EFB fibre-derived ACF has good reusability, which is suitable for ANG application.