Adsorption isotherm breakthrough time of acidic and alkaline gases on treated porous synthesized KOH-FeCl3.6H2O sustainable agro-based material

Abstract

Poisoning gases are very harmful when smelled and even low concentrations of the gases are can be lethal. The gases are widely used in various industries. Activated carbon (AC) can be useful to filter the gases. AC derived from local agricultural by-product materials can be used as adsorbent instead of using commercial activated carbon (CAC) for application in safety respiratory devices like gas masks. The study was carried out to produce AC derived from palm kernel shell (PKS) and to determine the breakthrough and saturation time adsorption isotherm of SO2, NH3 and O2 on the AC produced. The preparation of AC involved two main steps which are carbonization and activation process. After carbonization process, the resulted char (PKS-char) was then impregnated with Potassium Hydroxide(KOH) and Ferric chloride hexahydrate (FeCI3.6H2O) followed by activation process using microwave heating. The prepared AC (PKAC-KOH-FECI3) was characterized by Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Nitrogen adsorption isotherm. Breakthrough adsorption study was conducted in a stainless-steel reactor which loaded with 3.6 g of activated carbon for each run. The saturation time results were determined from the Yoon equation. From the adsorption breakthrough results, the PKAC-KOH-FeCI3 produced 51 s, 100 s, and 6.33 s breakthrough time for SO2, NH3, and O2 adsorption. The saturation time of PKAC-KOH-FeCI3 for SO2, NH3, and O2 adsorption were 16,947 s, 33,461 s, and 2,094 s. The results revealed that AC prepared from PKS treated with KOH-FeCI3 can be further developed as potential adsorbent for the gas phase applications.