OPTIMIZATION OF SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PALM SHELL-BASED BIO-CHAR AS A BY-PRODUCT OF BIO-OIL PRODUCTION PROCESS

In this study the optimum preparation conditions of bio-char were achieved as a by-product of the bio-oil production process from oil palm shell as an agricultural waste material. To investigate the possibility of utilizing bio-char as an adsorbent for wastewater treatment and other applications, a central composite design was applied to investigate the influence of carbonization temperatures, nitrogen flow rates, particle sizes of precursor, and duration on the bio-char yield and methylene blue adsorption capacity as the responses. Methylene blue was chosen in this study due to its wide application and known strong adsorption onto solids. Two quadratic models were developed for the responses and to calculate the optimum operating variables providing a compromise between yield and adsorption. From the analysis of variance, temperature was identified as the most influential factor on each experimental design response. The predicted yield and adsorption capacity was found to agree satisfactorily with the experimental values. A temperature of 400 degrees C, nitrogen flow of 2.6 L/min, particle size of 1.7 mm and time of 61.42 min were found as the optimum preparation conditions and near to the optimal bio-oil production variables.