Conversion of Waste Biomass into Activated Carbon and Evaluation of Environmental Consequences Using Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

In this article, activated carbon was produced from Lantana camara and olive trees by H3PO4 chemical activation. The prepared activated carbons were analyzed by characterizations such as scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. H3PO4 is used as an activator agent to create an abundant pore structure. According to EDX analysis, the crystalline structure destroys and increases the carbon content of the olive tree and Lantana camara by 77.51 and 76.16%, respectively. SEM images reveal a porous structure formed as a result of H3PO4 activation. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of the olive tree and Lantana camara activated carbon was 611.21 m2/g and 167.47 m2/g, respectively. The TGA analysis of both activated carbons shows their thermal degradation starts at 230 °C but fully degrades at temperatures above 450 °C. To quantify the potential environmental implications related to the production process of the activated carbon (AC) from olive trees, the life cycle assessment (LCA) environmental methodology was employed. For most of the tested indicators, chemical activation using H3PO4 showed the greatest ecological impacts: the ozone layer depletion potential (42.27%), the acidification potential (55.31%), human toxicity (57.00%), freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity (85.01%), terrestrial ecotoxicity (86.17%), and eutrophication (92.20%). The global warming potential (5.210 kg CO2 eq), which was evenly weighted between the phases, was shown to be one of the most significant impacts. The total energy demand of the olive tree’s AC producing process was 70.521 MJ per Kg.

Life cycle assessment of iron-biomass supported catalyst for Fischer Tropsch synthesis

“…Finally, the prepared char was washed with HCl or distilled water to remove the excess amount of activation agent. Finally, the highly surface area-based AC was ready to be used in the catalyst as a carbon support ( Amin et al, 2022c ). In the next step, the prepared catalyst was mixed with the iron nitrate.…”

The Conversion of Waste Biomass into Carbon-Supported Iron Catalyst for Syngas to Clean Liquid Fuel Production

“…The initial concentration of the H 3 PO 4 solution was 85%. The required H 3 PO 4 volumes per (17.38 g) dry raw biomass material were 12.13 mL [45]. The slurrybased material was calcined in a box resistance furnace for two hours at 500-600 degrees Celsius.…”

“…Then, the obtained char was rinsed with distilled water to remove extra H 3 PO 4 from the char [46]. After that, it was dried for an hour at 110 • C to yield 4 g of activated carbon [45][46][47].…”

Effect of Pyrolysis on iron-metal organic frameworks (MOFs) to Fe3C @ Fe5C2 for diesel production in Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

“…This might be the case for fuels used in transportation, when biomass could instead offer worthwhile substitutes, such as fuels derived from biomass (or befouls). Due to the fact that these fuels are composed of liquid hydrocarbons, the mixtures must contain alkenes with certain carbon chain ranges in order to comply with the aforementioned requirements ( West et al, 2008 )-( Amin et al, 2022b ).…”