Investigation of acetone adsorption characteristics of activated carbons obtained from Zonguldak-Karadon coal at room temperature

Abstract

Zonguldak is a major center of coal mines situated on the western BlackSea coast which has largest reserves of hard coal of Turkey, possesing many coal mines in the territory. In this study the investigation of acetone adsorption characteristics of activated carbons at room temperature obtained from Zonguldak-Karadon coal by physical and chemical methods is aimed. The effects of the adsorbent preparation technique, type of activation agent (KOH, NaOH, ZnCl2 ve H3PO4) and activation temperature (400-800?) on acetone adsorption were investigated. Acetone adsorption equilibrium data were compared with different adsorption isotherm models such as, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Langmuir, Freundlich, Harkins-Jura, Dubinin-Radushkevich, Dubinin-Astakhov, Henderson, Halsey and Smith, in order to investigate the acetone adsorption mechanism on various activated carbons obtained from Karadon coal, and the model parameters were determined. The Langmuir model adsorption constant Wm that gives the maximum adsorption capacity was found with the values in the range 0,12-0,63 g/g. Adsorpsiyon characteristic energies E0 evaluated from the Dubinin-Radushkevich model were found in the range 2,87-29,80 kJ/mol. The activated carbons obtained by chemical treatment were found to have higher acetone adsorption capacities than the physically activated ones, and that the adsorption capacity increased proportionally with the total pore volume. The activated carbons obtained by KOH activation of Zonguldak-Karadon coal at 700 ve 800? were found to have the highest acetone adsorption capacities as 45% and 45,99%, respectively. The results of the study have shown that the activated carbons obtained by chemical activation were highly efficient for acetone adsorption and have high commercial potential for use in the removal of acetone vapors.