Abstract
Studies were made on the industrial manufacturing process of granular activated carbon from the palm kernel shell charcoal by rotary kiln, and the following re-sults were obtained.
(1) The steam activation test of 5 to 32 mesh palm kernel shell charcoal was performed by an inside fired rotary kiln (0.7m O.D.x 12m L) equipped with a side burner and scraper boards. It gives only the decoloring power of approx. 120ml/g for methylene blue solution.
(2) The steam activation test of palm charcoal grains screened into both 5 to 12 mesh and 12 to 32 mesh, using the rotary kiln with a combustion chamber (1m O.D.x 12m L) is indicated the following conditions for producing granular activated carbon with methylene blue decoloring power of 150 to 180ml/g.
Retention time: 10hrs. Kiln inlet temperature: 1, 000°C
Steam rate: 100kg/hr Charcoal charging rate: 35kg/hr
Air/Fuel ratio: 11
Based on above results, we industrialized the manufacturing process of palm kernel shell activated carbon by rotary kiln with a combustion chamber (1.8m O.D.x 26m L) and are now supplying the activated carbon for triple cigarette filter with the following features; grain size 16-32 mesh, bulk density 540g/l, and adsorption capacity of acetone 23%.
