The effect of carbon dioxide partial pressure and fluidization velocity on activated carbons produced by carbon dioxide activation of scrap car tyre rubber in a fluidized bed has been studied. The method consisted of carbonization at 700 degrees C under nitrogen followed by activation at 900 degrees C. Three types of activated carbons were produced using activated gas concentrations of 20, 60 and 100% carbon dioxide by volume, the rest nitrogen, at a constant fluidization velocity (0.0393m/s) to investigate the influence of carbon dioxide partial pressure. Within the experimental setup and activation time of 4 h, it was observed that BET surface area and total pore volume increased with carbon dioxide partial pressure reaching 732.80m(2)/g and 1.1030cm(3)/g, respectively, for 100% activation with carbon dioxide. Three other types of activated carbons were produced using 100% carbon dioxide at two (0.0393m/s), three (0.0589m/s) and four (0.0786m/s) times the minimum fluidization velocity (U-mf). The BET surface area and total pore volume were observed to increase with fluidization velocity (which can be viewed as an indicator of the intensity of mixing in the bed), reaching 1011m(2)/g and 1.5620cm(3)/g, respectively, at four times the minimum fluidization velocity. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.