Abstract
The production of biodiesel from potential tropical plant oil such as physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) may lead to large amount of associated waste cake which has to be properly managed. Conversion of this waste biomass to valued added raw material such as activated carbon through pyrolysis process is an environmentally sound option. In the work reported here, preliminary tests were conducted to investigate the influences of different pyrolysis parameters on the properties of pyrolysed chars. Chars were characterized by thermogravimetric (TG) analyzer for the proximate analyses and the pyrolysis kinetic studies. The determination of surface areas and pore size distributions of obtained chars was also carried out. The optimum conditions for pyrolysis which yield maximum BET surface area were established. Results showed that it was feasible to prepare chars with high BET surface areas from Physic nut waste.
