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Title
Activated carbon from renewable resources - lignin
Authors
Steve Ragan and Neal Megonnell
Received
May 17, 2011
Published
Volume 45 Issue 7-8 September-October
Keywords
lignin, LignActiv, activated carbon, carbon footprint, renewable resources
Abstract
The world consumption of activated carbon is approximately 1.1 million tons per annum. Only some 15- 20% of this is manufactured using renewable resources. Lignins in kraft pulp black liquors are polyaromatic macromolecules with about 60 wt% carbon contents, derived from renewable resources. Recently, an efficient process for the recovery of lignin from kraft black liquor has been developed, “LignoBoost”; this lignin has a carbon content of ~66 wt%. In 2010, a research consortium of Sodra, Jacobi Carbons and Innventia, initiated the “LignActiv” project to establish the commercial and environmental sustainability of the manufacture of activated carbon from this lignin. This paper reports initial studies on the carbonization and activation behaviour of “Lignoboost” lignin subjected to laboratory scale physico-chemical activation processes. The paper describes the yields and physical properties of lignin-based chars and provides an initial evaluation of the nanoporous structure of the resultant “LignActiv”-activated carbons.
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