Activated carbon briquettes from biomass materials.

Disposal of biomass wastes, produced in different agricultural activities, is frequently an environmental problem. A solution for such situation is the recycling of these residues for the production of activated carbon, an adsorbent which has several applications, for instance in the elimination of contaminants. For some uses, high mechanical strength and good adsorption characteristics are required. To achieve this, carbonaceous materials are conformed as pellets or briquettes, in a process that involves mixing and pressing of char with adhesive materials prior to activation. In this work, the influence of the operation conditions on the mechanical and surface properties of briquettes was studied. Eucalyptus wood and rice husk from Uruguay were used as lignocellulosic raw materials, and concentrated grape must from Cuyo Region-Argentina, as a binder. Different wood:rice and solid:binder ratios were used to prepare briquettes in order to study their influence on mechanical and surface properties of the final products.