BET Surface Area Determination of Calcium Oxide from Adamawa Chalk Mineral Using Water Adsorption Method, for Use as Catalyst.

Abstract

This paper describes a test procedure for determining the total surface area of chalk mineral using the water adsorption method. The test involves saturating the thermally treated chalk sample with saturated salt solution of known relative humidity, until the water vapor forms a monomolecular layer on the treated chalk sample surface. The results of the test are expressed as Specific Surface Area (SSA), which describes the surface area/unit mass of dry treated sample with units of m²g^-1. The test results presented demonstrate the BET isotherm of chalk samples after being thermally treated at 700, 900, 1100 and 1200^oC. Results for a number of different treated chalk samples are presented. The proposed method uses simple and inexpensive laboratory equipment, is relatively simple to perform, and allows for rapid determination of SSA.

Keywords: specific surface area, chalk mineral, water vapor, BET isotherm