Fractional Factorial Analysis of Gelam Wood Pyrolysis

Abstract： Conductive activated carbons were prepared by pyrolysis process at temperatures below 800 ℃ with the precursor form Gelam wood （Melaluca cajuputi Powell）. The pyrolyses were conducted starting from 230 ℃ to 260 ℃ as the preheating step, followed by the pyrolysis at 700 ℃. Cooling process was applied between the carbonization and the activation processes. Fractional factorial design was performed to analyze the influence of the preheating temperature, volume loading, cooling step treatment and the heating period at the carbonization-activation temperature based on the electrical resistivity of the carbon product. The results showed that the electrical resistivity of carbons reduced in the order of 1,000 Ω to 10 Ω. The lowest resistivity obtained with this method is equal to 5 Ω.cm.