Pyrolysis of Date Palm Trunks to Produce Active Carbon

Active carbon is char derived from pyrolysis of organic materials. It has a high porosity level and is used to filter fluids. Many types of agricultural materials are used to produce active carbon. The trunk of the date palm, with its low density and high porosity, has great potential for producing active carbon. In this research, the bark was pyrolyzed at 450°C for 60 min to produce active carbon. The results indicated that 100 g of wood produced 30 g of active carbon. The density of the active carbon was 0.12 g/cm2 and its iodine number was 585 mg/g. The pyrolysis of the wood was studied using an analytical model and the coefficient of diffusion for volatile compounds leaving the wood was estimated to be 4.2 ×10-8 m2/s. The progress of the pyrolysis was modeled using the finite element method and showed the model was well fitted to the experimental data (R2 = 0.98). The finite element model was superior to the analytical model because it presented more details of the weight changes in the wood during pyrolysis.