Investigation on the effects of carbonization parameters on carbon material produced from durian shell

Carbonization of durian shell was performed in this study. Our aims are to investigate the effects of carbonization operating parameters (temperature and the use of N₂ gas) on product yields and properties and to scale up the experiment. The products were analyzed for chemical compositions and physical characterization via SEM-EDX. The results showed that carbonization temperature significantly affected the product yields and properties while the use of nitrogen slightly had effects on the products. At high temperatures, the SEM showed the progressive increases in porosity development, indicating a higher surface area. The experiment was then scaled-up from 5.0 to 20.0 g at 600 ^∘C without N₂ in the system to study the effects of feedstock quantity and reaction time. The results revealed that more reaction time was needed in order to get better product properties but the yields were not significantly different as the reaction time increased. The obtained results could be beneficial for agricultural waste management and could assist in modifying carbonization process parameters with larger scale production.