Production of activated carbon (AC) from agricultural byproducts is a research field that has gained increased interest in recent years because of its potential for the disposal of agro-residues. At the same time, a beneficial byproduct that can be used in a number of environmental applications is produced. This paper surveys the developments in the production processes of AC from agricultural byproducts in the past 7 years from 2005 to 2012 via conventional and microwave heating. Emphasis is placed on the applied methodology and the influences of activating conditions, such as carbonization temperature, retention time, and impregnation ratio. From the review of AC production processes, agricultural wastes produced by a chemical method with microwave heating can be a source of AC with relatively higher surface area than that produced via conventional heating.

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A vast array of scientific literature is concerned with simulation models. The aim of models is to predict the unknown situation as close to as real one. To do this, models are validated and examined for their performance under known condition. In this paper, commonly used model performance evaluation indices are overviewed and examined under different situations. Difference based, efficiency based (Nash and Sutcliffe coefficient, model efficiency of Loague and Green, Legates and McCabe's index) and composite indices (such as index of agreement, d, and d r) were found ambiguous, inconsistent and not logical in many cases. A new index, Percent Mean Relative Absolute Error (PMRAE), is proposed which is found unambiguous, logical, straightforward , and interpretable; thus can be used to evaluate model performance. The model evaluation performance ratings based on PMRAE are also suggested. Model evaluation Statistical indicators Model performance