This study reports the novel dry, activation for preparing activated carbon with a high, specific surface area from rice husks Using solid NaOH. Materials were characterized. by N-2 adsorption, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The effects of mass ratio (1-4) and the activation process, (dry activation or impregnation) On the surface area Were studied explicating the mechanism of pore development With a mass. ratio of 3 carbons prepared by dry activation possessed a much higher Surface area of 2841 m(2)/g than the 933 m(2)/g for impregnation. For the adsorption of phenol, their maximum adsorption capacities were 351.4 and 160.8 mg/g, fitting with the Langmuir model In addition, the economic analysis estimated a significant gross Profit margin of 40.2% for the product. Therefore, it is demonstrated that dry activation is an effective and convenient method for obtaining low cost activated carbon with outstanding surface area.