Journal of Petroleum Science and Technology

Journal of Petroleum Science and Technology

Fabrication of Carbon Molecular Sieve with KOH Activated Olive Kernels for the Separation of Carbon Dioxide from Methane Gas

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Motahre Nobahar 1
Mostafa Hassanisadi 2
Hamid Reza Bozorgzadeh 3
Mohammad Reza Ghasemie 1
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Tehran North Branch, Tehran, Iran
2 Nanotechnology research group, Downstream and Oil Development Research Division, Research Institute of petroleum Industry(RIPI), Tehran, Iran
3 Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, (RIPI) Tehran, Iran
10.22078/jpst.2025.5614.1968
Abstract
In this study, the synthesis of adsorbents from agricultural residues, specifically olive kernels, was examined using chemical precipitation with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as the activating agent. The carbonization process was conducted under an inert gas atmosphere at three temperatures: 600°C, 700°C, and 800°C. Subsequently, a carbon molecular sieve (CMS) was developed by incorporating a binder into the activated carbon. The specific surface area of the produced samples was determined using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, with measured values ranging from 360 m²/g to a maximum of 1103 m²/g. Moreover, the adsorption and separation characteristics of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) were evaluated for both activated carbon (AC) and carbon molecular sieves (CMS) across a pressure range of 1,200 to 1,500 kPa. Additionally, the obtained adsorption isotherms were analyzed using the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Sips models. Furthermore, a strong correlation was observed between the experimental data and the Sips isotherm, indicating enhanced selectivity for CO₂ over CH₄. Ultimately, among the investigated samples, the activated carbon subjected to carbonization at 800°C exhibited the highest CO₂ adsorption capacity, reaching 0.1699 g of CO₂ per gram of adsorbent, highlighting its potential efficacy for gas separation applications.
Keywords
In this study
the synthesis of adsorbents from agricultural residues
specifically olive kernels
was examined
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