ACTIVATED CARBON

FROM
WASTE TIRES
Course Information

 Course code : CP308

 Course Title : Process Engineering Project &
Seminar
 Duration : June to October 2016
 Type : Group Project
 Supervisor : Dr. D.G.G.P. Karunarathne

Registration Name with initials E mail address Telephone

number number
E/13/324 Sathkumara S.P.I.D isurudinusha@gmail.com 072892228
2
E/13/390 Weerakoon sasankapramuditha08@gm 071553865
W.M.S.P ail.com 7
Outline

 Introduction
 Benefits
 Objectives
 Methodology
 Activity plan
 References
 INTRODUCTION

• There is no proper way to dispose

waste tires in Sri Lanka.
Source:- http://www.budgetdumpster.com/blog/waste-tires-
turned-into-energy/

• Waste tires are burned without any value addition,

due to lack of knowledge about the usefulness of it.
BENIFITS

 Economical - Low cost activated carbon production

method.
 Social - Cause to begin new large-scale
industries and job opportunities.
 Environment - Burring or burning waste tire will lead
environmental pollution.
 Objectives

• To review method of dispose waste tire.

• Identifying different methods of Activated

carbon manufacturing.

• Produce activated carbon from waste rubber

tires
Critical Analysis of Waste Tires

Wt% Dry Ash Free Basis

Carbon 86.1
Hydrogen 7.1
Sulfur 1.6
Oxygen 3.3
Other 1.9

(Hsisheng Teng November 2000)

Effects of pyrolysis temperature on the surface characteristics of the
carbons from waste tires impregnated with KOH

Pyrolysis Carbon BET SA Pore Vol.

temperature Yield (%) (m2/g) (cm3/g)

600 26 116 0.22

700 16 474 0.38
800 12 411 0.57
900 11 306 0.45

(Hsisheng Teng November 2000)

carbons prepared from 700 °C pyrolysis of tires impregnated with KOH

(Hsisheng Teng November 2000)

Methodology
Waste tire cut into
small pieces

Shake with KOH

Drying for 24hr

Heating up to 800C
At furnace with N2

Treat with HCl

PH correction and
Drying for 24hr (Hsisheng Teng,2011, Julie elizabeth,2013)
Measure the internal surface area of
activated carbon (BET theory)

https://www.desotec.com/en/carbonology/carbonology-academy/bet-surface-area-analysis-activated-carbon

• The mathematical model uses the nitrogen

adsorption isotherm at low temperature and single
layer adsorption
Factors effect on the surface characteristics
of the carbons from waste tires

 Pyrolysis temperature (700-900 C)

 Chemical ratio (KOH/tire) (2-5)

 Holding time (2-4hr)

(Hsisheng Teng,2011)
 Results
Pyrolysis Carbon BET Surface Area Pore Vol.
temperature(C) Yield (%) (m2/g) (cm3/g)

700

800

900

The pyrolysis was performed by impregnating the tires with a KOH/tire ratio of 4 and
2hr holding time

(Hsisheng Teng,2011)
Chemical ratio Carbon BET Surface Area Pore Vol.
(KOH/tire) Yield (%) (m2/g) (cm3/g)

The pyrolysis was performed by heating the impregnated sample to 700 C and 2hr
holding time
(Hsisheng Teng,2011)
Holding time Carbon BET Surface Area Pore Vol.
(hr) Yield (%) (m2/g) (cm3/g)

The pyrolysis was performed by impregnating the tires with a chemical ratio of 4, followed
by heating the sample to 700 C

(Hsisheng Teng,2011)
 Procedure
 ground and sieved to a size of 0.2–0.3 mm
 KOH solution containing 50 g of water or C2H5OH as
the solvent.
 The mixing tire and KOH at 85 °C and lasted 3 hr
with a shaker speed of 100 rpm.
 vacuum drying at 110 °C for 24 hr.
 heating the samples at the range of 600–900 °C.
 holding the samples at the temperature(0–2 hr)
 HCL treating to get final product
Activity plan

Weeks
Task
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

4.Raw materials collecting

5. Processing raw materials &

making Activated carbon

6.Preparing the final report

References
• Hsisheng Teng , Yu-Chuan Lin & Li-Yeh Hsu (2000) Production of
Activated Carbons from Pyrolysis of Waste Tires Impregnated with
Potassium Hydroxide, Journal of the Air & Waste Management
Association, 50:11, 1940-1946
• JULIE ELIZABETH BRYANT, 2013, Generation of Activated Carbon on
the Surface of Used Vehicle Tires through Pyrolysis Treatment.
• Marek A. Wójtowicz, Elizabeth Florczak, Erik Kroo, Michael A. Serio
Advanced Fuel Research, Inc. 87 Church Street East Hartford, CT
06108-3728, USA
• Bronislaw Buczek,2016, Preparation of Active Carbon by Additional
Activation with Potassium Hydroxide and Characterization of eir
Properties. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering Volume
2016 (2016), Article ID 5819208, 4 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5819208
System used for synthesis of activated carbons
from microwave-assisted pyrolysis.

(Marek A,2004)
Materials
 The proximate and ultimate analyses of the waste tires
are shown in table below . Before being treated, the tires
were ground and sieved to a size of 0.2–0.3 mm.
Pulverization of the tire rubber provided the rubber a
better contact with the chemical reagent during the
course of reagent impregnation.
Ultimate Proximate
(wt %, Dry-Ash-Free (wt %, As-Received)
Basis)
Carbon 86.1 Moisture 0.2

Hydrogen 7.1 Volatile 66.1

matter
Sulfur 1.6 Fixed 29.4
carbon
Oxygen 3.3 Ash 4.3
(Hsisheng Teng,2011)
Other 1.9
Chemical agent

Pyrolysis of the waste tires was performed in the

presence of a chemical reagent, KOH. The tires
were impregnated with KOH prior to pyrolysis. In
a 250-mL glass-stoppered flask, the
impregnation process was initiated by mixing 1 g
of tires with a KOH solution containing 50 g of
water or C2H5OH as the solvent.
Other chemical agents

KOH was found to be more effective than ZnCl2

and H3PO4 in creating porosity in carbons
derived from the tires. Two solvents water and
C2H5OH were tested in the impregnation of tires
with KOH. Experimental results showed that
carbons prepared from KOH/alcohol solutions
exhibit higher SAS.
(Hsisheng Teng,2011)
 Mixing with KOH

The flask was immersed in a constant

temperature shaker bath, with a shaker speed
of 100 rpm. The mixing was performed at 85 °C
and lasted 3 hr. The concentration of the KOH
solution was adjusted to give a w/w ratio of
chemical reagent to tire (i.e., a chemical ratio)
varying in the range of 1–6.
(Hsisheng Teng,2011)
Activation
 After mixing, the tire-KOH slurry was subjected to
vacuum drying at 110 °C for 24 hr. The chemical-loaded
samples were then pyrolyzed in a furnace in N2
atmosphere, with a flow of 100 mL/min. Pyrolysis was
carried out by heating the samples at 30 °C/min from
room temperature to heat-treatment temperatures in
the range of 600–900 °C, followed by holding the
samples at the treatment temperature for different
lengths of time (0–2 hr) before cooling under N2.

(Bronislaw Buczek,2016)
 HCL Treating

 After cooling, the pyrolyzed products were washed by

stirring with 250 mL of 0.5 N HCl solution at 85 °C for 30
min, followed by filtration. The acid-washed sample was
then leached by mixing with 250 mL of distilled water at
85 °C, followed by filtration of the mixtures. Leaching was
carried out several times until the pH of the water-
carbon mixture was above 6. The leached products
were then dried in a vacuum at 110 °C for 24 hr to give
the final carbon products.
(Hsisheng Teng,2011)
 BET surface area method

 The BET surface area method is based on a 1938 paper by Brunauer,

Emmett and Teller, to measure the internal surface area of activated
carbon. The mathematical model uses the nitrogen adsorption isotherm at
low temperature and single layer adsorption.
 The DESOTEC R&D laboratory is equipped with a BET measuring instrument
that, in addition to the internal surface area, also calculates the average
pore size, pore volume and pore size distribution. Depending on the
application, DESOTEC can offer activated carbon types ranging from 400
to more than 1,500m2/g.

https://www.desotec.com/en/carbonology/carbonology-academy/bet-surface-area-analysis-activated-
carbon
 The iodine number
 The iodine number as a quality control parameter of activated carbon
 The iodine number is an indication of the available surface area in
m2/gram of virgin carbon. Although the Iodine number has become
synonymous with the “activity” of activated carbon and it is widely used as
a quality control (QC) parameter in production and reactivation of
activated carbon
 Generally the iodine number is 50 to 100mg/g lower compared to the BET
surface area.

https://www.desotec.com/en/carbonology/carbonology-academy/iodine-number
(Julie, 2013)