Abstract: Coconut shell is an excellent raw material for preparation of activated carbon. Studies on weight loss, heat effect and heat stability of coconut shell were carried out by simultaneous measurements of thermogravimetry(TG) and differential thermal analysis(DTA), mechanisms of pyrolysis and charring of coconut shell were analyzed. The influences of pyrolysis temperature and heating rate on charring yield and decomposition rate of coconut shell were also explored. According to experimental results, all curves from thermal analysis showed two weight loss stages under the conditions of five different heating rates. Temperature range of coconut shell pyrolysis is from 200 to 410℃.Controlling weight loss of the second stage is the key for pyrolysis and charring.In a certain degree, increasing heating rate is helpful for pyrolysis of coconut shell. Under the conditions of optimum heating rate at 20℃/min, enthalpy of pyrolysis reached 792.15 kJ/g and weight loss was only 31.925%.The optimum final pyrolysis temperature was 575℃.This study provides theoretical basis for optimizing charring technology of coconut shell.

Key words: coconut shell, thermal analysis, pyrolysis, charring