POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCTION OF ACTIVATED CARBON FROM Jatropha carcus FRUIT SHELLS

This work focused on the conversion of Jatropha carcus (JC) to activated biochar (AC). JC seed shells were carbonised at 500oC producing a char yield of 90%. The char was then activated by sulfonation. The activated carbon produced was characterized in terms of pH, ash content, moisture content and adsorption capacity. The internal surface area of the sample was determined using iodine number test and was found to be 431 mg/g at 500°C with 9.32% ash content, 2% moisture content, and a pH of 5.80. The production of AC from JC involved soaking, drying, crushing, sieving, carbonisation, sulphonation, water washing and acid recovery and lasting drying and storage. A preliminary cost estimation of the suggested process was presented for a plant which can process 2500 kg/day of JS to produce 600 kg/day of AC. An economic analysis was done and proved the project to be viable as it has a return on investment of 24% with a payback period of 4.2 years at 75% plant utilization for a unit cost of $2.80 per kg.