The optimization of heating temperature for carbon extraction from peat soil

This study aims to find the optimised heating temperature for carbon extraction from peat soil. Ccarbon from peat soil was extracted by the pyrolisation process at temperature, T = 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700°C for 5 hours. The carbon, C and silica, Si content extracted from peat soil at various heating temperatures were measured by using an Energy Dispersive X-Ray analyzer (EDX) at 3 points on the sample surface. High atomic percentage of carbon (95.44 %) was measured at T = 400°C, while the highest atomic percentage of silicon was recorded at T = 700°C (30.79 %). The surface morphology of peat soil was analysed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) at 800 magnifying power, and it was clearly seen that peat fragments were pyrolised at high heating temperature with pores enhancement. The molecular structure parameter of the extracted carbon were identified using Laser Raman analysis. The peak positions of D-band and G-band for raw peat soil were observed at Raman shift of 1379.62 and 1549.02 cm-1, respectively. Meanwhile, the D-band for peat soil heated at temperature of 400°C was 1391.56 cm-1 whereas the G-band has peak position at 1562.16 cm-1. From the Raman spectra of the optimum heating temperature at 400°C, it was revealed that the carbon molecular structure from the peat soil is mainly attributed by graphite and diamond structure.