PALM NUTSHELL BIOCHAR QUALITY CORRELATION WITH PYROLYSIS TEMPERATURE

Abstract

The threat caused by the use of generic carbonaceous material for carbothermic reduction to globe has increased. Millions are being invested to protect the environment due to the global warming. A new generation of reductants is urgently sought to mitigate the threat. Biochars improvement for different usages is currently looked at. One of the ways to produce biochar is pyrolysis. The temperature and type of atmosphere in the furnace used play an important role on the quality of biochar produced. The current paper investigates the effect of temperature on the quality of biochar produced from raw palm nutshells through pyrolysis. The temperature was varied from 500-C to 900oC while the size of particles fed into the furnace ranged from 5mm to19mm. The quality of the raw palm nutshell and the biochar were assessed through characterization using proximate analysis and SEM-EDS to quantify the amount of fixed carbon and pores sizes corresponding to different sizes of the palm nutshell treated. The trends of fixed carbon and the change in temperature as well as the pores sizes were assessed in all the biochars produced and the correlation established. A tube furnace was used for the experiments with argon being blown to keep an inert atmosphere and avoid any destruction of carbon. A further correlation between the size of particles and fixed carbon was also assessed and a correlation established.