Production, Activation and CO2 Uptake Capacity of a Carbonaceous Microporous Material from Palm Oil Residues

Cristina Moliner; Simona Focacci; Beatrice Antonucci; Aldo Moreno; Simba Biti; Fazlena Hamzah; Alfonso Martinez-Felipe; Elisabetta Arato; Claudia Fernández Martín

LAPSE

Living Archive for Process Systems Engineering

LAPSE:2023.7599

Published Article

LAPSE:2023.7599

Production, Activation and CO2 Uptake Capacity of a Carbonaceous Microporous Material from Palm Oil Residues

Cristina Moliner, Simona Focacci, Beatrice Antonucci, Aldo Moreno, Simba Biti, Fazlena Hamzah, Alfonso Martinez-Felipe, Elisabetta Arato, Claudia Fernández Martín

February 24, 2023

While Malaysia produces about half of the world’s palm oil and is the largest producer and exporter worldwide, oil palm industries generate large amounts of lignocellulosic biomass waste as a sub-product with no economic market value other than feedstock for energy valorisation. With the aim to increase the sustainability of the sector, in this work we prepare new materials for CO2 capture from palm oil residues (empty fruit bunches and kernels). The biochar is obtained through the carbonisation of the residues and is physically and chemically activated to produce porous materials. The resulting microporous samples have similar properties to other commercial activated carbons, with BET surfaces in the 320−880 m2/g range and pore volumes of 0.1−0.3 cm3·g−1. The CO2 uptake at room temperature for physically activated biochar (AC) was 2.4−3.6 mmolCO2/gAC, whereas the average CO2 uptake for chemically activated biochar was 3.36−3.80 mmolCO2/gAC. The amount of CO2 adsorbed decreased at the highest temperature, as expected due to the exothermic nature of adsorption. These findings confirm the high potential of palm oil tree residues as sustainable materials for CO2 capture.

Record ID

LAPSE:2023.7599

Keywords

Adsorption, biochar, chemical and physical activation, CO2 uptake, palm oil waste

Subject

Materials

Suggested Citation

Moliner C, Focacci S, Antonucci B, Moreno A, Biti S, Hamzah F, Martinez-Felipe A, Arato E, Fernández Martín C. Production, Activation and CO2 Uptake Capacity of a Carbonaceous Microporous Material from Palm Oil Residues. (2023). LAPSE:2023.7599

Author Affiliations

Moliner C: Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Via Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genoa, Italy [ORCID]
Focacci S: Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Via Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Antonucci B: Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Via Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Moreno A: Chemical Process and Materials Research Group, School of Engineering, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
Biti S: Chemical Process and Materials Research Group, School of Engineering, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
Hamzah F: School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam 40450, Selangor, Malaysia
Martinez-Felipe A: Chemical Process and Materials Research Group, School of Engineering, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK; Centre for Energy Transition, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK [ORCID]
Arato E: Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Via Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genoa, Italy [ORCID]
Fernández Martín C: Chemical Process and Materials Research Group, School of Engineering, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK; Centre for Energy Transition, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK [ORCID]

Journal Name

Energies

Volume

15

Issue

23

First Page

9160

Year

2022

Publication Date

2022-12-02