• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.293-300
• /
• 2018

The removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water using KOH-activated pine tree needle leaves biochar is considered a cost effective and efficient process. In this study, pine tree needle leaves were mixed with 0, 50, 100 and 200% (KOH weight/feedstock weight) of KOH, respectively. Then, the mixture was pyrolyzed at $500^{\circ}C$ for 6 hrs. The adsorption characteristics of 10 VOCs to the biochar were tested. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of the KOH activated biochar was highest in 100% KOH-biochar. The VOC removal efficiencies of 50% and 200% KOH activated biochar were similar and the 0% KOH activated biochar showed the lowest VOC removal. The FTIR results showed that increasing the amount of KOH seemed to enhance the formation of various functional groups, such as -OH, -C=C, -O. The adsorption strength of 10 VOCs to the KOH activated biochar seemed to be increasing by the increase of the solubility of VOCs. This may suggest that the adsorption is taking place in hydrophilic sites of the biochar surface. The KOH activated pine tree needle leaves biochar can be an effective sorbent for VOCs removal in water and 100% KOH mixing seemed to provide better sorption capacity.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.171-177
• /
• 2020

BACKGROUND: Recently, biomass conversion from agricultural wastes to carbon-rich materials such as biochar has been recognized as a promising option to maintain or increase soil productivity, reduce nutrient losses, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the agro-ecosystem. This experiment was conducted to select an optimum conditions for enhancing the NH₄-N adsorption capacity of rice hull activated biochar. METHODS AND RESULTS: For deciding the proper molarity of KOH for enhancing its porosity, biochars treated with different molarity of KOH (0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8) were carbonized at 600℃ in the reactor. The maximum adsorption capacity was 1.464 mg g^-1, and an optimum molarity was selected to be 6 M KOH. For the effect of adsorption capacity to different carbonized temperatures, 6 M KOH-treated biochar was carbonized at 600℃ and 800℃ under the pyrolysis system. The result has shown that the maximum adsorption capacity was 1.76 mg g^-1 in the rice hull activated biochar treated with 6 M KOH at 600℃ of pyrolysis temperature, while its non-treated biochar was 1.17 mg g^-1. The adsorption rate in the rice hull activated biochar treated with 6 M KOH at 600℃ was increased at 62.18% compared to that of the control. Adsorption of NH₄-N in the rice hull activated biochar was well suited for the Langmuir model because it was observed that dimensionless constant (R_L) was 0.97 and 0.66 at 600℃ and 800℃ of pyrolysis temperatures, respectively. The maximum adsorption amount (q_m) and the bond strength constants (b) were 0.092 mg g^-1 and 0.001 mg L^-1, respectively, for the rice hull activated biochar treated with 6 M KOH at 600℃ of pyrolysis. CONCLUSION: Optimum condition of rice hull activated biochar was 6M KOH at 600℃ of pyrolysis temperature.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.19
• /
• pp.79-88
• /
• 2016

As a replacement for activated carbon, biochar was synthesized and used for the adsorptive removal of formaldehyde and nitrogen oxide. Biochar was produced from the fast pyrolysis of the red marine macro alga, Pyropia tenera. The P. tenera char was then activated with steam, ammonia and KOH to alter its characteristics. The adsorption of formaldehyde, which is one of the main indoor air pollutants, onto the seaweed char was performed using 1-ppm formaldehyde and the char was activated using a range of methods. The char activated with both the KOH and ammonia treatments showed the highest adsorptive removal efficiency, followed by KOH-treated char, ammonia-treated char, steam-treated char, and non-activated char. The removal of 1000-ppm NO over untreated char, KOH-treated char, and activated carbon was also tested. While the untreated char exhibited little activity, the KOH-treated char removed 80% of the NO at 50℃, which was an even higher NO removal efficiency than that achieved by activated carbon.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.272-278
• /
• 2023

There is a lot of interest in methods for pollutants using adsorption, and recent research is being conducted to show that biochar can be used to remove organic and inorganic pollutants. In particular, wood waste as waste biomass requires a biomass recycling method, and a method to increase the adsorption capacity of biochar produced using wood waste is needed. Biochar is created by Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) using, which uses low temperature and high pressure, has low energy consumption and does not require moisture removal pretreatment, and biochar is created through chemical activation using KOH, NaOH, and ZnCl₂ chemicals. The adsorption characteristics of biochar were determined by analyzing iodine adsorptivity, specific surface area, pore diameter, pore volume, pore distribution, and SEM according to the activation. The results of analyzing the selecting biochar by activating the biochar produced at HTC 300℃, 4 hr by KOH, NaOH, and ZnCl₂ chemicals, the specific surface area was 774~1.387 m²/g, showing a high specific surface area similar to activated carbon, and it was confirmed that micropores with an average pore diameter in the range of 21~24 Å were formed. As a result of SEM observation, the surface was uniform with a certain shape depending on activation. It was confirmed that one pore was developed and the number of pores increased.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.28
• /
• pp.81-86
• /
• 2018

Empty fruit bunch (EFB) char was used to remove $NO_x$ and odorous substances. The physicochemical properties of the EFB chars were altered by steam or KOH treatments. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and porosity were measured to determine the properties of the modified EFB chars. The $deNO_x$ and adsorption test for hydrogen sulphide and acetaldehyde were performed to determine the feasibility of the modified EFB chars. The KOH-treated EFB (KEFB) char revealed higher $deNO_x$ efficiency than with commercial activated carbon. The Cu-impregnated EFB char also had high $deNO_x$ efficiency at temperatures higher than $150^{\circ}C$. The KEFB char showed the highest hydrogen sulphide and acetaldehyde adsorption ability, followed by the steam-treated EFB char and untreated EFB char. Moreover, the product prepared by sulfonation of EFB char showed excellent performance for esterification of palm fatty acid distillate for biodiesel production.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.576-583
• /
• 2023

This study investigated the possibility of new adsorbent materials made from pig bone-based biomass. To this end, the properties of pig bone-based activated carbon (PAC) prepared from animal biomass were investigated, and its carbon dioxide adsorption performance was examined. KOH was used as the activation agent, and the specific surface area increased with increasing activation temperature, and the adsorption efficiency of carbon dioxide also increased. The sample activated at 800 ℃ exhibited the largest specific surface area of 1208.7 m²/g and the highest CO₂ adsorption efficiency of 3.33 mmol/g at 273 K, 1 bar. However, the specific surface area and the CO₂ adsorption efficiency decreased at activation temperatures above 900 ℃ due to crystallinity changes and overactivation. On the other hand, when the selectivity was calculated using the ideal adsorption solution theory, PAC-900 samples at 273 K and below 0.8 bar showed the best selectivity. These results suggest that the high selectivity of carbon dioxide/nitrogen adsorption at 273 K is due to the carbon dioxide adsorption capacity of hydroxyapatite formed by the decomposition of carbonate when pig bone is activated at 900 ℃ and its crystallinity.