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

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

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

References

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