KR102580274B1 - manufacturing method of ACTIVATED CARBON to improve TO IMPROVE MESOPORE RATIO AND SPECIFC SURFACE AREA by SURFACE OXIDATION OF PETROLEUM RESIDUE PITCH OR COAL TAR PITCH and activated carbon manufactured thereby - Google Patents

Abstract

The method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized by surface oxidation heat treatment at a temperature of softening point or melting point under a gas atmosphere containing oxygen before steam activation of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. Oxygen is introduced to the surface of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch through surface oxidation heat treatment, which has the effect of increasing the specific surface area and the ratio of mesopores of the activated carbon produced in the steam activation step.

Description

Manufacturing method of ACTIVATED CARBON to improve TO IMPROVE MESOPORE RATIO AND SPECIFC SURFACE AREA by SURFACE OXIDATION OF PETROLEUM RESIDUE PITCH OR COAL TAR PITCH and activated carbon manufactured thereby}

The present invention relates to a method of producing activated carbon using petroleum-based pitch or coal-based pitch as a raw material and to activated carbon produced thereby. Specifically, the specific surface area of activated carbon produced by surface oxidation treatment of petroleum-based pitch or coal-based pitch It relates to a method of producing activated carbon and activated carbon that can significantly improve the ratio of mesopores and pores.

The field of carbon materials has been continuously developing since the commercialization of carbon black and activated carbon in the 20th century, and carbon fiber in the late 20th century, and recently fullerene, carbon nanotube (CNT), and graphene ( Development of Graphene is continuing.

Depending on the type, carbon materials have excellent specific surface area, conductivity, capacitance, and physical properties, and are widely used as source materials not only in general basic industries such as automobiles, construction, aviation, and energy, but also in national strategic fields such as space and national defense.

In particular, among carbon materials, activated carbon is attracting attention for its excellent adsorption capacity due to its very high specific surface area and pore volume. These properties are used as gas adsorbents to adsorb detected gases, water purifiers, desalination devices, fuel cells, and electromagnetic wave shielding agents. It is becoming.

Currently, activated carbon is mainly manufactured using wood as a raw material, especially coconut shells. However, since coconut shells are relatively expensive, efforts are being made to find cheaper raw materials for activated carbon.

One object of the present invention is to provide an activated carbon production method that can produce activated carbon using coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, which is cheaper than coconut shell, as a raw material.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing activated carbon that can improve the ratio of the specific surface area and mesopores (pores with a diameter or width of 2 nm to 50 nm) of activated carbon produced by coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. will be.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing activated carbon that can maintain the granular shape during the production of activated carbon produced by coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch.

Finally, another object of the present invention is to provide granular activated carbon with a high ratio of specific surface area and mesopores.

Meanwhile, other unspecified purposes of the present invention will be additionally considered within the scope that can be easily inferred from the following detailed description and its effects.

The method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention to solve the problem described above is to produce activated carbon using coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. A method of producing activated carbon according to an embodiment involves heat treating coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch at a temperature between the softening point and melting point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch under a gaseous atmosphere containing oxygen, and surface oxidation to introduce oxygen to the surface. heat treatment step; and a steam activation step of producing activated carbon by heat-treating the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch to which oxygen has been introduced to the surface in the presence of steam.

In one example, the step of pulverizing the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch may be performed before performing the surface oxidation heat treatment step.

In one example, the surface oxidation heat treatment step may be performed at a temperature 30 to 90° C. higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. More preferably, the surface oxidation heat treatment step may be performed at a temperature that is 55 to 65 ° C higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch.

In one example, the surface oxidation heat treatment step may be performed while flowing dried air into the reactor where the surface oxidation heat treatment is performed.

In one example, the pitch is a petroleum-based pitch having a softening point of 270°C, and the surface oxidation heat treatment step may be performed at a temperature of 300 to 360°C.

In one example, the produced activated carbon may have a specific surface area of 1300 m ² /g or more and a mesopore ratio of 30% or more.

In one example, the steam activation step may be performed in a rotary kiln.

In one example, it further includes a catalytic gasification step of carrying out catalytic gasification by carrying a functional metal on the prepared activated carbon and heat-treating the activated carbon carrying the functional metal, wherein the catalytic gasification is carried out using a vertical gasification device with an impeller installed therein. It may be characterized as being performed in a furnace.

Activated carbon according to another embodiment of the present invention to solve the problems described above is manufactured by the above-described example manufacturing method.

In another example, the oxygen concentration on the surface of the activated carbon may be higher than the oxygen concentration inside the activated carbon.

The method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention involves surface oxidation heat treatment at a temperature of softening point or melting point under a gas atmosphere containing oxygen before steam activation of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. Oxygen is introduced to the surface of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch through surface oxidation heat treatment, thereby increasing the specific surface area and the ratio of mesopores of the activated carbon produced in the steam activation step.

In addition, the method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention is to maintain the granular shape during the manufacturing process by heat treating the surface oxidation of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, thereby making the produced activated carbon granular. No additional processes are required for this.

Meanwhile, the method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention uses coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, which is cheaper than coconut shell, and has a specific surface area and mesopore ratio equivalent to or higher than that of activated carbon manufactured from coconut shell. Activated carbon can be manufactured.

Meanwhile, it is to be added that even if the effects are not explicitly mentioned herein, the effects described in the following specification and their potential effects expected from the technical features of the present invention are treated as if described in the specification of the present invention.

1 is a schematic flow chart of a method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 shows the results of measuring oxygen on the surface of each sample by SEM-EDS after surface oxidation heat treatment in the method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 shows the FT-IR measurement results of petroleum pitch, IP330, and IP330-AC.
Figure 4 shows the results of measuring the specific surface area and mesopore ratio after steam activation of the method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 examines the effect of surface oxidation heat treatment temperature on the mesopore ratio of activated carbon after steam activation in the method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a photograph of a rotary kiln in which surface oxidation heat treatment of the activated carbon production method according to an embodiment of the present invention was performed.
Figure 7 is a photograph of a vertical furnace installed with an impeller in which catalytic gasification of the method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention was performed.
The attached drawings are intended as reference for understanding the technical idea of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, we will look at the configuration of the present invention guided by various embodiments of the present invention and the effects resulting from the configuration. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that related known functions may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention as they are obvious to those skilled in the art, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Meanwhile, in this patent document, pores with dimensions (diameter or width) of less than 2 nm are defined as micropores, and pores with dimensions larger than 50 nm are defined as macropores, with dimensions ranging from 2 nm to 50 nm. A pore having is defined as a mesopore.

1 is a schematic flow chart of a method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The method for producing activated carbon (M100) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes preparing coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch (S110); Grinding and particle size separation of the prepared coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch (S120); A surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) of introducing oxygen to the surface of the pulverized coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch; A steam activation step (S140) of producing activated carbon by heat treating coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch with oxygen introduced to the surface in the presence of steam; Catalytic gasification step (S150) to develop pores of the manufactured activated carbon; And a fibrous carbon growth step (S160) of growing fibrous carbon on catalytic gasified activated carbon.

First, the step of preparing coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch (S110) is performed. The step (S110) of preparing coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch can be performed by a known method, and it is also possible to prepare it by purchasing a commercial product.

Coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch has the advantage of being cheaper than wood raw materials such as coconut shells, but when manufacturing activated carbon, the softening point is low, so the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch cannot maintain its shape and collapses during the process of activating pores. In addition, even if coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch was activated through a carbonization process, etc., the specific surface area was small, which was a problem. Additionally, simply increasing the specific surface area of activated carbon does not improve performance in applications such as desalination devices or fuel cells. The pores of activated carbon are classified into micropores, mesopores, and macropores depending on their size. Even though the specific surface area is large, if the ratio of mesopores is low, the mobility of substances such as ions decreases, and the pores collapse at high temperatures. there is a problem. When using the activated carbon manufacturing method (M100) according to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned problems can be solved at once. In other words, the problem of pore activation due to the low softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch can be solved, the specific surface area can be increased to the level of functional activated carbon (more than 1,800 m ² /g), and the ratio of mesopores is more than 30%. It is possible to increase it.

The step (S120) of crushing and particle size separation of the prepared coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch is performed. In this step, the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch becomes granular. ． By making carbonyl-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch into a granular form, it is possible to increase the area where oxygen can be introduced to the surface of carbonyl-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch in the surface oxidation heat treatment step described later, rather than making it linear or plate-shaped. There is an advantage. At this time, the diameter of the granular coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch is preferably 500 to 710 ㎛. If the diameter of carbonyl-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch is less than 500 ㎛, the carbonyl-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch will clump together in the surface oxidation heat treatment step described later, and the surface oxidation heat treatment will not be performed properly. If it exceeds 710 ㎛, the diameter of carbonyl-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch will not be performed properly. The surface area of pitch is small, so the amount of oxygen introduced to the surface of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch during the surface oxidation heat treatment process is reduced.

In the manufacturing method of activated carbon according to one embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, which has been granulated by the surface oxidation heat treatment step described later, is maintained until the manufacturing stage of activated carbon.

Next, a surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) is performed to introduce oxygen to the surface of the pulverized coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch.

In the surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130), oxygen is introduced to the surface by heat treating the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch under a gas atmosphere containing oxygen.

The surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) may be performed at a temperature between the softening point and melting point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. Specifically, the surface oxidation heat treatment step may be performed at a temperature 30 to 90 ℃ higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, and preferably 55 to 65 ℃ higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. there is. Since coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch has a low softening point, when it is subjected to steam activation, which will be described later, it cannot maintain its shape and melts. Conventionally, the problem of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch not maintaining its shape during the steam activation process was solved through a carbonization process. However, if steam activation is performed after the carbonization process, the shape of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch can be maintained during the steam activation process, but there is a problem in that the ratio of specific surface area and mesopores is too low. However, when performing the surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130), when steam activation is performed by introducing oxygen to the surface of the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, the oxygen functional group present on the surface of the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch is H during the steam activation process. ₂ When it meets O, pores are formed in coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. In particular, the temperature at which the surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) is performed is very important. If the temperature is too low, oxygen is not introduced to the surface of the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, and if the temperature is too high, the volatile matter of the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch Since it has already been removed, pores cannot be formed during the steam activation process. In addition, if the temperature of the surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) is too high, the oxygen introduced to the surface of the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch becomes non-uniform, and the surface of the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch hardens, resulting in an appropriate specific surface area during the steam activation process. There is a problem with the temperature being lower than what it performs. When the surface oxidation heat treatment step is performed at a temperature 30 to 90 ℃ higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, the specific surface area of activated carbon produced through steam activation is 1300 m ² /g or more and the proportion of mesopores is 30% or more. This happens. More preferably, when the surface oxidation heat treatment step is performed at a temperature 55 to 65 ° C higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, the specific surface area of activated carbon prepared through steam activation is 1800 m ² /g or more, and the ratio of mesopores This amount is more than 60%, which is equivalent to or higher than the expensive functional activated carbon currently sold on the market. In particular, even if the temperature of the steam activation process performed at a very high temperature is slightly lowered through the surface oxidation heat treatment step, the specific surface area and the ratio of mesopores of the produced activated carbon can be increased.

The surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) is performed in a gas atmosphere containing oxygen, and can be performed, for example, by flowing dried air into the reactor at a flow rate of 80 to 120 mL/min based on a 10 g sample.

Additionally, the surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) may be performed for 1 to 3 hours.

Next, a steam activation step (S140) is performed to produce activated carbon by heat-treating coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch with oxygen introduced to the surface in the presence of steam.

The steam activation step (S140) may use a rotary kiln (see FIG. 5) as a reactor. By using a rotary kiln rather than a conventional tube, it is possible to activate samples weighing more than 10 g at a time. In other words, by using a rotary kiln, steam can be evenly contacted with the granular coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch during the steam activation process, and thus, there is an advantage in that a larger amount can be steam activated at once.

The steam activation step (S140) is performed at a temperature of 800 to 900 °C and is performed in the presence of steam. The activated carbon production method of the present invention performs a surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) before the steam activation step (S140), and the surface oxidation heat treatment step (S130) is performed at a temperature 55 to 65 ° C higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch. When performed, even if the temperature of the steam activation step (S140) is slightly lowered to about 850°C, the specific surface area and mesopores can be formed at the same level as when performed at about 900°C.

The steam activation step (S140) is performed by flowing steam into the rotary kiln at a flow rate of 200 to 300 cm ³ /min, and can be performed for 2 to 6 hours.

After performing the steam activation step (S140), a catalytic gasification step (S150) to develop pores of the produced activated carbon may be further performed. At this time, if powdered activated carbon is needed, the granular activated carbon is pulverized before the catalytic gasification step (S150) to prepare it in powder form.

In the catalytic gasification step (S150), a functional metal (e.g., one selected from iron catalyst, nickel catalyst, cobalt catalyst, and magnesium catalyst, or a compound/mixture thereof) is supported on the produced activated carbon, and the functional metal is not supported. This is the step of controlling pores by heat treating activated carbon to turn it into catalytic gas. The specific surface area of the activated carbon produced through the catalytic gasification step (S150) can be increased by more than 200 m ² /g, and the ratio of mesopores can also be increased. Catalytic gasification may be performed at 350 to 450°C for 30 minutes to 1 hour and may be performed in at least one gas atmosphere selected from the group consisting of air, oxygen, and hydrogen. The catalytic gasification step (S150) may use the method described in Patent Registration No. 10-1945884. However, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, catalytic gasification is performed in a vertical furnace in which a newly designed impeller is installed for catalytic gasification, so that catalytic gasification was previously performed on 0.5 g of activated carbon at a time in a horizontal furnace. It is possible to perform catalytic gasification of 25g of activated carbon at a time. This is because the impeller in the center of the vertical furnace repeatedly raises the activated carbon upward and then drops it, thereby uniformly catalyzing gasification of a large amount of samples.

Lastly, a step (S160) of growing fibrous carbon on the surface of the activated carbon that has undergone catalytic gasification is performed. If the catalytic gasification step is a technology to control the inner pores of activated carbon, the step of growing fibrous carbon is a technology to control the outer pores of activated carbon. The fibrous carbon growth stage is selected from carbon gases (ethylene (C ₂ H ₄ ), methane (CH ₄ ), acetylene (C ₂ H ₂ ), ethane (C ₂ H ₆ ), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ). It is performed by heat treatment at a temperature of 600 to 700 ℃ in the presence of at least one of the following) and reducing gas (hydrogen (H ₂ )).

Example

1. Raw materials

In order to perform the activated carbon production method of the present invention, petroleum pitch (GS Caltex) with a softening point of 270 ° C was prepared as a raw material. The prepared petroleum pitch contains 0.32% by weight of moisture, 0% by weight of ash, 52% by weight of volatile matter, and 47.7% of fixed carbon.

2. Grinding and particle size separation

The prepared petroleum pitch was pulverized and then sieved to obtain granular petroleum pitch with a diameter of 500 to 710 ㎛.

3. Surface oxidation heat treatment

To introduce oxygen to the surface of the granular petroleum pitch, it was heat treated for 2 hours while flowing dried air at 100 mL/min. Heat treatment was performed by increasing the temperature at a rate of 2 ℃/min, and was performed at 270 ℃ (IP270), 300 ℃ (IP300), 330 ℃ (IP330), and 360 ℃ (IP360) to examine the effect of temperature.

4. Steam activation

Activated carbon was produced by steam activation on IP270, IP300, IP330, and IP360 that had undergone surface oxidation heat treatment.

5 g of IP270, IP300, IP330, and IP360 samples were steam activated at a temperature of 850°C (temperature increase rate of 3°C/min) for 240 minutes with steam flowing in at a flow rate of 250 cm ³ /min. Steam activation was performed using a 59.5 cm

Activated carbons prepared by samples IP270, IP300, IP330, and IP360 were named IP270-AC, IP300-AC, IP330-AC, and IP360-AC.

5. Results

(1) Effect of surface oxidation heat treatment temperature

In order to examine the results of surface oxidation heat treatment, oxygen was measured through SEM-EDS on the cross sections of IP270, IP300, IP330, and IP360, and the results are shown in Figure 2. In addition, the surface element composition of petroleum pitch and IP270, IP300, IP330, and IP360 were analyzed. In addition, FT-IR of petroleum pitch, IP330, and IP330-AC was measured and shown in Figure 3.

[Table 1]

Referring to Table 1, it can be confirmed that oxygen was introduced to the surface of the petroleum pitch through surface oxidation heat treatment. As the temperature of surface oxidation heat treatment increases, reactivity increases and the amount of oxygen introduced increases proportionally. However, during the surface oxidation heat treatment process, a reaction in which oxygen is introduced and a combustion reaction in which oxygen reacts with carbon and escapes as carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide occur. In other words, it can be seen that the combustion reaction was stronger in IP360, and the amount of oxygen introduced was reduced compared to IP330.

Additionally, it can be seen from Figure 2 that the amount of oxygen introduced increases with temperature, and the oxygen concentration naturally gradually decreases with surface depth. In the case of IP270, which had a low heat treatment temperature, the amount of oxygen introduced was not sufficient. Meanwhile, in the case of IP360, it can be seen that oxygen appears irregularly on the surface. Meanwhile, referring to Figure 3, it can be seen that oxygen is mainly introduced in the form of carboxyl groups to the surface of petroleum pitch according to the surface oxidation heat treatment.

(2) Effect of surface oxidation heat treatment on activated carbon

Figure 4 shows the results of measuring the specific surface area and mesopore ratio after steam activation in the method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 5 shows the surface oxidation heat treatment in the method for producing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present invention. The correlation between temperature and mesopore ratio of activated carbon after steam activation was investigated.

The results of Figure 4 were analyzed and shown in Table 2 below. In Table 2, S _bet is the specific surface area calculated by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method (P/P ₀ = 0.05-0.15), V _t is the total pore volume, and V _m is the volume of mesopores. . P60 is a commercially available activated carbon from Kuraray, Japan, and A-BAC is a commercially available activated carbon from Kureha, Japan.

[Table 2]

Referring to Figure 4 and Table 2, when the surface oxidation heat treatment is performed at a temperature 30 to 90 ℃ higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, the specific surface area of the produced activated carbon is 1300 m ² /g or more, and the ratio of mesopores It can be seen that it is more than 30%. More preferably, when the surface oxidation heat treatment is performed at a temperature 55 to 65 ℃ higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch, the specific surface area of the produced activated carbon is 1800 m ² /g or more and the ratio of mesopores is 60% or more. Able to know. It has a significantly higher specific surface area and mesopore ratio than commercial activated carbon. In particular, considering that steam activation in the examples was performed at 850°C, which is lower than 900°C, this effect is more meaningful.

As in the past, the effect of the present invention is clearer when compared with the results of steam activation after carbonizing petroleum pitch. The petroleum pitch used in the examples was carbonized at 400°C, 500°C, and 600°C for 1 hour, and steam was introduced into the carbonized petroleum pitch at a flow rate of 250 cm ³ /min in the same manner as in the examples, and 850 Steam activation was performed for 240 minutes at a temperature of ℃ (temperature increase rate of 3℃/min). Petroleum-based pitch carbonized at 400°C was too soft to perform steam activation, and petroleum-based pitch carbonized at 600°C had too high hardness to be used. The specific surface areas of the five comparative examples carbonized at 500°C and steam activated were only 195, 564, 438, 532, and 435 m ² /g, respectively, and the proportion of mesopores was 15.9, 31.6, 38.7, 34.4, and 25.8%. It was just that. Comparing with the results in Table 3 above, it can be seen that the specific surface area of the example subjected to surface oxidation treatment was significantly increased compared to the comparative example subjected to carbonization treatment, and the meso ratio was also significantly increased.

Meanwhile, in the case of IP360, as confirmed in Figure 2 and Table 1, the oxygen content is lower than that of IP330, and oxygen is introduced irregularly, especially on the surface. As a result, even during the steam activation process, the specific surface area and mesopores of IP360-AC are decreased. You can see that the ratio is less than that of IP330-AC. In particular, referring to Figure 5, it can be seen that the ratio of mesopores is closely related to the amount of oxygen introduced according to the surface oxidation heat treatment.

In addition, as shown in Figure 5(a), it can be seen that the amount of oxygen introduced into the pitch by surface oxidation heat treatment and the amount of oxygen after producing the activated carbon are proportional to each other, from which the activated carbon produced It can be seen that the oxygen concentration on the surface is higher than on the inside.

When activated carbon (IP330-AC) manufactured by the activated carbon manufacturing method described above is used as an electrode for an electrosorption desalination device after catalytic gasification and growth of fibrous carbon, the ion removal rate is 7~7% compared to the electrode manufactured with existing P60. You can see that there is an 8% improvement.

In order to confirm whether the same results were obtained for coal-based pitch as for petroleum-based pitch, surface oxidation heat treatment (300, 330, 360 °C) and steam activation were performed on coal-based pitch with a softening point of 250 °C under the same conditions as the petroleum-based pitch in the examples. . As a result, the ratio of specific surface area to mesopores was 1290.0 m ² /g - 27.2% at 300 ℃, 1515.0 m ² /g - 51.5% at 330 ℃, and 1406.1 m ² /g - 34.7% at 360 ℃. . In the case of coal-based pitch, like petroleum-based pitch, the specific surface area and mesopore ratio significantly increased during the steam activation process through surface oxidation heat treatment.

Activated carbon manufactured by the activated carbon manufacturing method described in this patent document can be applied to fuel cell catalyst carriers, air purification filters, capacitors, etc.

The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the description and expression of the embodiments explicitly described above. In addition, it is once again added that the scope of protection of the present invention may not be limited due to changes or substitutions that are obvious in the technical field to which the present invention pertains.

Claims (10)

As an activated carbon production method for producing activated carbon using coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch:
A surface oxidation heat treatment step of introducing oxygen to the surface by heat treating coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch at a temperature between the softening point and melting point of the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch under a gas atmosphere containing oxygen; and
It includes a steam activation step of producing activated carbon by heat-treating the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch to which oxygen has been introduced to the surface in the presence of steam,
A method of producing activated carbon wherein the amount of oxygen introduced into the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch by the surface oxidation heat treatment step is 10.3 to 15.6 wt%.
According to paragraph 1,
A method of producing activated carbon, characterized in that the step of pulverizing the coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch is performed before performing the surface oxidation heat treatment step.
According to paragraph 1,
A method of producing activated carbon, characterized in that the surface oxidation heat treatment step is performed at a temperature 30 to 90 ° C higher than the softening point of coal-based pitch or petroleum-based pitch.
According to paragraph 1,
A method of producing activated carbon, characterized in that the surface oxidation heat treatment step is performed by flowing dried air into a reactor where the surface oxidation heat treatment is performed.
According to paragraph 1,
The pitch is a petroleum-based pitch having a softening point of 270°C, and the surface oxidation heat treatment step is performed at a temperature of 300 to 360°C.
According to paragraph 1,
A method of producing activated carbon, characterized in that the specific surface area of the produced activated carbon is 1300 m ² /g or more, and the ratio of mesopores is 30% or more.
According to paragraph 1,
A method for producing activated carbon, characterized in that the steam activation step is performed in a rotary kiln.
According to paragraph 1,
It further includes a catalytic gasification step of carrying out catalytic gasification by carrying a functional metal on the prepared activated carbon and heat-treating the activated carbon carrying the functional metal,
A method for producing activated carbon, characterized in that the catalytic gasification is performed in a vertical furnace with an impeller installed therein.
Activated carbon manufactured by the manufacturing method of any one of claims 1 to 8.
According to clause 9,
Activated carbon, characterized in that the oxygen concentration on the surface of the activated carbon is higher than the oxygen concentration inside the activated carbon.