The steam activation of pyrolytic tyre char obtained in a conical spout bed reactor produces good quality active carbon.
Commercial active carbons are microporous materials, but those obtained from fast pyrolysis of waste tyres are mainly mesoporous. The presence of mesopores and macropores makes pyrolytic tyre char suitable for the adsorption of large molecular size compounds.
The properties of the carbons obtained depend largely on activation time, but temperature seems only to have a kinetic effect.
Steam activation has another important advantage, namely, sulphur removal from the char during activation. This removal is enhanced by the structure of the char obtained in the conical spout bed reactor.
This reduction in sulphur content may be the key for the industrial application of tyre-derived-carbons, either as active carbons or as carbon blacks for tyre manufacturing.