A generally accepted view is that activating chemicals act as dehydrating agents which may alter the pyrolysis behavior of carbonaceous materials. The presence of metal compounds (such as ZnCl2) alters the course of reactions in pyrolysis so that less of the objectionable tarry products are formed. In this study, TGA, DTA, GC, XRD and elemental analysis were used for to monitor the car- bonization of Ni–Ca/D152