Investigation into the use of Potassium in the production of advanced carbon products

Project Title:

Investigation into the use of Potassium in the production of advanced carbon products

Supervisor(s):

Assoc. Prof. Vince Verheyen, Dr. Alicia Reynolds & Supervisor with modelling expertise

Contact person and email address:

vince.verheyen@federation.edu.au

A brief description of the project:

Potassium is highly effective in the dissolution and activation of locally available lignite and wood pulp lignin resources. Their high value products include hard extruded activated carbons and powders suited to environmental, metallurgical and power storage applications. The valuable potassium used in the preparation of these carbons needs to be recovered and recycled from the metallic forms present in the thermally activated product.

This project involves lab scale preparation of carbon products and research into the development of a practicable method for recycling the potassium. This will include a technoeconomic study to evaluate its commercial feasibility.

Potential industry partners: Australian Carbon Innovation.