Abstract: An activated carbon with high specific surface area was prepared from oily sludge. The whole preparation was put forth in a static pyrolyzing furnace with nitrogen and sodium hydroxide as the activation agent. The effects of conditions on the activated carbon were studied, such as carbonization temperature, heating way for activation, activation temperature, activation time and the mass ratio (m(NaOH)／m(C)). The specific surface area and pore size distribution were tested by the automated surface area and pore size analyzer. The element and microstructure were characterized by ESEM. The results showed that the best experimental conditions were as the followings, the carbonization temperature was 500℃, the heating way for activation was method c, the activation temperature was 800℃, the activation time was 1h, and  m(NaOH)／m(C) was 2∶1. The surface area of the activated carbon was more than 2000m2／g. The activated carbon had uniform pore size and its average pore size was less than 2nm. Its total pore volume was  greater than 2cm3／g. Based on those features, activated carbon could be used as storage media for energy, electrode materials, highly effective adsorbents and others basic materials. Therefore, this research could give a new way for resource utilization of oily sludge.

Key words: activation, carbonization, activated carbon, sodium hydroxide, specific surface area, oily sludge