Removal of SO2 over ethylene tar pitch and cellulose based activated carbon fibers

The activities of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) from ethylene tar pitch and cellulose with various surface areas were examined for the oxidative conversion of SO2 into aq.H2SO4 in the presence of H2O and O-2, and compared to those of coal tar pitch and polyacrylonitrile based ACFs. Cellulose ACF with surface area of similar to 1000 m(2)/g after calcination at 1000 degrees C in N-2 showed the highest activity among the ACFs of similar surface area. The higher activity of cellulose ACF appeared to be obtained through the larger amount of CO evolution during the calcination. The SO2 adsorption was enhanced while H2O adsorption was inhibited over the ACFs by the calcination regardless of the sources of ACFs. Activities of fibers decreased significantly with increasing adsorption temperature. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.