Several million tonnes of oil sands coke are generated each year in Alberta, Canada as a by-product of bitumen upgrading. Due to its high carbon content, oil sands coke can be a suitable precursor for the preparation of activated carbon. In this study, delayed and fluid oil sands coke were physically activated in a muffle furnace under select conditions of activation time (2-6 h), temperature (800-900 degrees C), steam rate (0.3-0.5 mL/min), and activation atmosphere (CO(2), CO(2) + steam, and N(2) + steam). The activated products were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption, iodine and methylene blue tests. An increase in activation time and temperature resulted in higher surface areas in both delayed and fluid coke due to an enhanced etching of pores. An increase in steam rate led to the production of the highest specific surface area (577 m(2)/g) and iodine number (670 mg/g) within delayed coke; whereas, a lower steam rate resulted in the production of the highest specific surface area (533 m(2)/g) and iodine number (530 mg/g) in activated fluid coke samples. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.