Activated carbon is a porous form of carbon which can be manufactured from a variety of carbonaceous raw materials. The principal commercial products are made from coconut shell, coal, peat or wood. The activation process involves treating the raw material with steam or chemicals, thereby developing a pore structure. Activated carbon, also known as activated charcoal, is characterised by a vast system of pores of molecular size within the carbon particles, resulting in the formation of a material with an extensive internal surface area. Commercially available, activated carbons have surface areas from 400m2/g to more than 2000m2/g.

How Does Activated Carbon Work?

The atoms of carbon, comprising the large internal surface area of activated carbon, present attractive forces outward from the surface. These forces, known as Van der Waals forces, attract the molecules of the surrounding gas or liquid.

The combination of these attractive forces and those of molecules in the surrounding medium result in the adsorption of molecules at the surface of the activated carbon. Some molecules have structures which make them more easily adsorbed than others and it is due to this that the separation of molecules is achieved.

Activated Carbon Selection

The selection of the most appropriate activated carbon type is based either on known characteristics of the chemicals to be removed in an adsorption process or by a series of controlled laboratory tests.

Powder Activated Carbons

These are mainly used in batch processes and removed by filtration after an appropriate contact time.

Granular Activated Carbons

Used in fixed or moving bed filters; the smallest particle of activated carbon is normally consistent with the retention in the filter and acceptable flow resistance, since this will provide the best adsorption kinetics.

Impregnated Grades for Activated Carbon

Activated carbon is sometimes chemically impregnated to enhance the performance by chemisorption when the adsorption affinity for particular contaminants is too weak to be effective.

• Silver Impregnated
• Ammonia Removal & Adsorption
• Air Filtration & Odour Removal
• Alkali and/or Ammonia Removal
• Ether Removal
• Formaldehyde Removal
• Gold Recovery & Mercury Adsorption
• H2S, SO2 and Acid Fumes Adsorption
• H2S Removal
• Amine Filtration
• TEDA (Triethylenediamine) Impregnation

Explore our collection of Impregnated Activated Carbons