K 2 S-activated carbons developed from coal and their methane adsorption behaviors

The main purpose of this work is to prepare various activated carbons by K2S activation of coal with size fractions of 60–80 meshes, and investigate the microporosity development and corresponding methane storage capacities. Raw coal is mixed with K2S powder, and then heated at 750 °C–900 °C for 30 min–150 min in N2 atmosphere to produce the adsorbents. The texture and surface morphology are characterized by a N2 adsorption/desorption isotherm at 77 K and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical properties of carbons are confirmed by ultimate analysis. The crystal structure and degree of graphitization are tested by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra. The relationship between sulfur content and the specific surface area of the adsorbents is also determined. K2S activation is helps to bring about better development of pore texture. These adsorbents are microporous materials with textural parameters increasing in a range of specific surface area 72.27 m2/g–657.7 m2/g and micropore volume 0.035 cm3/g–0.334 cm3/g. The ability of activated carbons to adsorb methane is measured at 298 K and at pressures up to 5.0 MPa by a volumetric method. The Langmuir model fits the experimental data well. It is concluded that the high specific surface area and micropore volume of activated carbons do determine methane adsorption capacity. The adsorbents obtained at 800 °C for 90 min with K2S/raw coal mass ratios of 1.0 and 1.2 show the highest methane adsorption capacities amounting to 106.98 mg/g and 106.17 mg/g, respectively.