Author(s)

Uugantsetseg Gombojav, Irekhbayar Jambal, Enkhsaruul Byambajav

Laboratory of Clean Energy Technology Development, Department of Chemistry, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Preparation of activated carbons by a physical activation technique is performed using the methods of coal pyrolysis and gasification at different temperatures. As increasing pyrolysis temperature from 520°C to 700°C, the yield of activated carbons from the Khuut (KH) sub-bituminous coal is lowered, and amount of micropores increases gradually; however there is no development of mesopores by the KH coal pyrolysis. When the KH coal has a small loss during its physical activation due to difficulty and inactivity of its macrostructure decomposition, the smaller porosity is developed in the resulting carbons. The Aduunchuluun (AD) lignite is activated by pyrolysis and gasification at the highest temperature of 700°C in the present study. It is identified that the gasification of AD lignite develops well a porous structure with the highest surface area of 522 m²/g which is three times larger than that (155 m²/g) of the activated carbon produced by pyrolysis of the same lignite. The IR and SEM analysis confirm a significant difference in chemical and structural changes between the AD, KH raw coals and corresponding carbon samples in the physical activation processes.

Coal-Based Activated Carbon, Porous Structure, Physical Activation, Micropores, Mesopores

Gombojav, U. , Jambal, I. and Byambajav, E. (2020) Preparation of Activated Carbons from Mongolian Lignite and Sub-Bituminous Coal by a Physical Method. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 8, 97-106. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2020.83007.