This research papers deals with the effects of the operating parameters on the yield of activated carbon prepared from karanja oil seed shells.The effects of carbonization temperatures ranging from 400°C to 600°C and acid concentration ranging from 12N to 20 N with nitrogen purge rate of 5 lit/Hr were studied.

1. E nvironment A sia
The international journal published by the Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment
Available online at www.tshe.org/EA
EnvironmentAsia 5 (special issue) (2013) 151-155
Effect of operating parameters on the yield of Activated
Carbon prepared from Karanja seed shells
Prof. V.N. Ganvir, Akash Dhobale
Department of Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical Technology,
Laxminarayan Institute of Technology, Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University,
Bharat Nagar, Amravati Road, Nagpur- 440033.
Email: vnganvirlit@gmail.com, aks2015@gmail.com
Abstract
Solid waste disposal has become a major problem in vegetable oil mill / refinery.
Either it has to be disposed safely or use for the recovery of valuable materials. Karanja
oil has medicinal value and widely used in soaps, leather tanning and ‘attar’. Nowadays
Karanja oil is used for preparation of biodiesel. Karanja shells remains as waste.
Therefore, activated carbon was prepared from Karanja shells which are thrown out as
a waste from Karanja oil mill and have no further use after seed removal. A study of the
effect of the preparation conditions on the yield of activated carbon prepared from
Karanja seed shells was made using H3PO4 as an activating agent. The Karanja shells
were washed, dried, digested and carbonized at carbonization temperature varying
from 4000C to 6000C with carbonization time varying from 10 min to 30 min and acid
concentration varying from 0N to 30N. The effects of carbonization temperatures
ranging from 400°C to 600°C and acid concentration ranging from 12N to 20 N with
nitrogen purge rate of 5 lit/Hr were studied. Proximate analysis of feed was done.
Keywords: Activated carbon, Karanja seed shell, yields of activated carbon.
1. Introduction
In the last few years interest &
activity have grown up around the globe
to find a substitute of fossil fuel. According
to Indian scenario the demand of
petroleum product like diesel is increasing
day by day hence there is an urgent need
to find a solution. Biodiesel has become
more
attractive
because
of
its
environmental benefits and fact that it is
made up of renewable resources.
Under Indian condition only nonedible oil can be used as biodiesel which
are produced in appreciable quantity and
can be grown in large scale on noncropped marginal lands and waste lands.
Non-edible oils like Jatropha, Karanja and
Mahua contain 30% or more oil in their
seed, fruit or nut. The Karanja oil has a
bitter taste and a disagreeable aroma, thus
it is not considered edible. [1][2][3]
In India, the Karanja oil is used as a
fuel for cooking and lamps. The Karanja oil
is also used as a lubricant, water-paint
binder, pesticide, and in soap making and
tanning industries. The Karanja oil is
known to have value in herbal medicine
for the treatment of nausea, rheumatism,
as well as human and animal skin
151

2. E nvironment A sia
The international journal published by the Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment
diseases. It is effective in enhancing the
pigmentation of skin affected by
Leucoderma. The oil of Pongamia is also
used as a substitute for diesel. [4]
The methods used for activated
carbon synthesis are physical activation
and chemical activation. Furthermore, the
temperature range used in chemical
activation is lower in comparison to that
used in physical activation. Phosphoric
acid is selected as the activating agent
instead of zinc chloride so as not to
aggravate environmental pollution by
contamination with zinc compounds. The
main objective of this research is to
prepare activated carbon from Karanja
seed shells.
2. Experimental
2.1. Pre-treatment
Karanja shells were obtained from
the vegetable oil mill and the seeds were
taken out from the shells. The shells were
repeatedly washed with distilled water to
remove residues and dried at 60°C for 4
hours to reduce moisture content. The
dried shells were crushed with a
commercial miller into small pieces.
Available online at www.tshe.org/EA
EnvironmentAsia 5 (special issue) (2013) 151-155
After drying, the samples were
placed in crucibles and into a high
temperature furnace for carbonization.
The colonization process was carried out
in an inert atmosphere using nitrogen gas
with nitrogen purge rate of 5 lit/hour for
time 10, 15, 20 min. After adjusting the
nitrogen flow, the furnace is started. The
carbonization temperatures used were
4000C, 4500C, 5000C, 5500C and 600°C.
2.4. Proximate analysis of feed
2.4.1. Determination of moisture content.
1.0g of the dried sample was
weighed in a crucible. The crucibles were
placed in an oven and dried at 105ºC to
constant weight for 1 hour as per
(ASTMD-3173). The percentage moisture
content (% MC) was computed as follows:
Moisture content (%) = [(W2-W3) / (W2W1)] x 100
Where,
W1 = weight of crucible, gm.
W2=weight of crucible + sample, gm.
W3=weight of crucible + sample after
heating, gm.
2.4.2 Determination of volatile matter.
2.2. Impregnation
Impregnation of Karanja pods were
done with (4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28) N
phosphoric acid. 5 gm of sample is
impregnated with appropriate volume of
phosphoric
acid
of
different
concentration. The impregnation process
was performed at temperature 30ºC for
24 hours in a Petri dish. The impregnated
sample was washed with distilled water
till we get 7 pH. The sample was dried in
an oven at 1000C for 2 hrs.
2.3. Carbonization
Loss in weight was reported as
volatile matter on a percentage basis. The
difference in weight due to loss of volatile
was taken as the total volatile matter
present in the biomass.
Volatile matter (%) = [(W5-W6) / (W5W1)] x 100.
Where,
W4 = weight of the crucible + weight of
the sample before oven drying, gm.
W5=weight of the crucible + weight of the
sample before keeping in muffle furnace,
gm.
152

3. E nvironment A sia
Available online at www.tshe.org/EA
EnvironmentAsia 5 (special issue) (2013) 151-155
The international journal published by the Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment
W6=weight of the crucible + weight of
sample after keeping in muffle furnace,
gm.
2.4.3. Determination of ash content.
The residual carbon in the crucible
is heated without lid in a muffle furnace at
750ºC for half an hour for (ASTMD-3174).
Heating, cooling and weighing was
repeated, till a constant weight was
obtained. The residue was reported as ash
on a percentage basis.
Ash content, (%) = [(W8-W9) / (W7-W1)]
x 100.
Where,
W7 = weight of the crucible + weight of
the sample before oven drying, gm.
W8= weight of the crucible + weight of the
sample before keeping in muffle furnace,
gm.
W9=weight of crucible + weight of the
sample after keeping in muffle furnace,
gm.
Table 1. Proximate analysis of Karanja
seed shells
Test
Volatile content
Moisture content
Ash content
Karanja seed shell
(%)
60
4.5
3
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Effect of concentration of phosphoric acid on the yield of activated carbon
Variance of acid concentration by
keeping
carbonization
time
and
carbonization
temperature
constant,
taken for 5 different temperatures 4000C,
4500C, 5000C, 5500C and 600°C. Figure 1
shows that the yield increases as the
concentration of H3PO4 impregnating
solution increases. It approached an
optimum point at 16N of H3PO4 with
75.18 % yield. A further increase in
loading H3PO4 led to a decrease in yield
for all the temperatures considered.
80
70
60
400 deg centi.
40
450 deg cent.
30
500 deg centi.
20
550 deg centi.
10
Yield %
50
600 deg centi.
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
H3PO4 Normality
Figure 1. Effect of concentration of phosphoric acid on the yield of activated carbon.
3.2. Effect of carbonization temperature on activated carbon yield
153

4. E nvironment A sia
Available online at www.tshe.org/EA
EnvironmentAsia 5 (special issue) (2013) 151-155
The international journal published by the Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment
Carbonization temperature plays a
significant role on the activated carbon
yield. As we increase the temperature
from 4000C to 6000C by keeping
carbonization time and acid concentration
constant, it is taken for 3 different acid
concentrations. The variation of activated
carbon
yield
with
carbonization
temperature is shown in fig 2. For all 3
impregnation concentrations, it was found
that the yield of activated carbon
decreases with increasing temperature
from 4500C onwards.
This was due to the loss of most of the
volatile matter and loss of phosphate
compounds. Under high activation
temperature
yield
decreased
tremendously as a considerable amount of
phosphate compounds volatised when the
carbonization temperature is above
450°C.
80
70
Yield %
60
50
40
12 N H3PO4
30
16 N H3PO4
20
20 N H3PO4
10
0
350
400
450
500
550
600
650
Temp.
Figure 2.Effect of carbonization temperature on the yield of Activated Carbon.
3.3. The effect of carbonization time on activated carbon yield
Variation of carbonization time by keeping
carbonization temperature and acid
.
concentration constant, for three different
temperature
4500C,
5000C,
5500C
80
70
Yield %
60
50
40
400 deg centi.
30
450 deg centi.
20
500 deg centi.
10
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Time (min)
Figure 3. Effect of carbonization time on the yield of Activated Carbon.
154

5. E nvironment A sia
The international journal published by the Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment
As we increase the carbonization time
from 10 min and onwards for same
temperature the yield of activated carbon
decreases with increasing time. The
optimum carbonization time for the
preparation of the adsorbent was found to
be 10 min.
4. Conclusion
Karanja seed shells can be used as a
precursor in the preparation of activated
carbon with good surface area around 344
m2/gm. However, an attempt has been
made in this work to study the minimum
and optimum carbonization temperature
of Karanja seed shell between the ranges
of 400-6000C. The optimized conditions
(Activation concentration, temperature
and time) were all studied. Optimized
condition for the preparation of activated
carbon is found to be 16N of acid
concentration, carbonization temperature
Available online at www.tshe.org/EA
EnvironmentAsia 5 (special issue) (2013) 151-155
4500C and carbonization time 10 min, as
per yield point of view.
References
1. Subramanian, K.A., Singal, “Utilization of
liquid biofuels in automotive diesel
engines, Biomass and Bio energy”, 2005;
29:65-72.
2. Azam A.M., and Nahar N. M., “Prospects
and potential of fatty acid methyl esters of
some non-traditional seed oil for use as
biodiesel in India”. Biomass and
Bioenergy.2005; 29:293-302.
3. Tiwari S, Saxena M, Tiwari SK “Mahua
oil based resins for the high-temperature
curing of fly ash coatings”. Journal of
applied polymer Science.2003; 87 (2):
110-120.
4. Ashish S. Saksule, “adsorbents from
Karanja seed oil cake and applications”.
International
Journal
of
Chemical
Engineering and Applied Sciences, ISSN
2278 –1366 Original Article, 2012.
Received 16 November 2013
Accepted 3 December 2013
Correspondence to
Mr. Akash Dhobale
Department of Petroleum
Refining & Petrochemical
Technology,
Laxminarayan Institute of
Technology, Nagpur- 440033
E-mail: aks2015@gmail.com
155