Sulfur Dioxide Gas Adsorption Study using Mixed Activated Carbon from Different Biomass

Activated carbon produced from coconut shell and rubber seed pericarp has a great potential to be used as gas adsorbent. Most researchers, however, focus on producing activated carbon from one single biomass. Another option is to produce activated carbon from blending two different types of biomass with the strategy to reduce dependency on one type of biomass and sustain the production of activated carbon. Further, the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon produced from different blended biomass would be increased in comparison to single biomass.  Most activated carbon is produced via physical activation using the conventional pyrolysis heating system, which is very time-consuming. In this study, activated carbon from biomass, namely coconut shell (CS-AC), rubber seed pericarp (RSP-AC), and their blends (CSRSP-AC) were successfully produced by using ZnCl₂ as the chemical activating agent. The activation process was performed in a modified commercial microwave oven at the irradiation power of 600 W for 20 min. The single activated carbon and its blend were tested for their adsorption capacity for sulfur dioxide gas (SO₂) using evolved gas analyzer (EGA). The single RSP-AC and CS-AC samples produced breakthrough time for SO₂ adsorption at 23 min and 14 min, respectively. The longest SO₂ breakthrough time for the blended activated carbon (CSRSP-AC) was achieved at 15 min with a ratio of 20:80 (CS:RSP) and was slightly longer than the individual CS-AC. The high amount of microporous RSP in the blend increases SO₂