ACTIVATED CARBON

PRESENTED BY Raja Wajahat

Sorbent materials are used commercially for bulk separation, as well as

purification of both liquids and gases.

Four types of generic sorbents have dominated industrial adsorption:

activated carbon,

zeolites,

silica gel

activated alumina

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By worldwide sales, activated carbon is by far the most widely used its
manufacture and sale date back to the 19th century, and
global annual demand for activated carbon exceeds 1.2 million metric tons.

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The most common raw materials for manufacturing activated carbon are

coal,

coconut shells,

wood,

peat

petroleum coke

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Adsorption

As with other sorbent materials, activated carbon works when molecules

adhere to its surface in an adsorption process.

Adsorption can be thought of as the accumulation of gaseous components, or

solutes dissolved in liquids, onto a solid surface.

It is primarily a physical process (substances do not undergo chemical

reactions with the adsorbent).

If chemical agents are applied to an adsorbent, they may react with solutes in
a process known as chemisorption, in which the deposited substances are
chemically altered.

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Van der Waals (dipole-dipole) and London dispersion (induced dipoleinduced

dipole) intermolecular forces are important in the adsorption phenomenon,
which can be rather complex in practice.

A host of factors influence the fine details associated with adsorption of

molecules in a sample of gas or liquid onto activated carbon.

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Factors Affecting Adsorption

Molecular size of the substances to be removed from the bulk material

Hydrophilic behavior of the substances to be removed

Polarity of the substance to be removed

Size of interior surface area of the adsorbent material

Pore structure of the activated carbon material (shape, size distribution)

Solute concentration

Temperature and pressure

Composition of the solution or gas

mixture exposed to the adsorbent

pH value of the solution (for liquidphase)

Relative humidity

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Pore size and surface area

the term activation refers to a carefully controlled oxidation of carbon

atoms in the raw material that greatly expands the materials internal surface
area.

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The activation process forms a network of

pores that extend from the ones that
naturally occur in the carbonaceous
raw material.

Activation results in a distribution of pore

sizes and shapes that depend on the
nature of the starting material and on the
details of the manufacturing process.

Macroscale pores are greater than 50 nm

in size, while mesoscale pores range from
250 nm and microscale pores less than
2 nm wide.

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BET - Brunauer-Emmert-Teller Method

The interior surface of activated carbon is measured and evaluated using the
BET (Brunauer-Emmert-Teller) method.

Activated carbons employed in gas and air treatment ordinarily have a BET
surface area within the range of 8001,500 m2/g.

Activated carbons used in water purification generally have BET surface areas
of between 500 and 1,500 m2/g.

In adsorption, both interior surface and pore radius distribution play an

important role.

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Activation processes

Gas Activation

Chemical Activation

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Gas Activation

Carbonization of the raw material at 400500C to eliminate most of the

volatile matter, followed by partial gasiication at 8001,000C.

As the carbon material is partially gasified (via the chemical reactions shown
below), a highly porous carbon skeleton is formed and large internal surface
area results.

A mild oxidizing gas, such as steam mixed with CO2, is used because the
intrinsic surface reaction rate is slower than the pore diffusion rate.

This ensures that pores will develop uniformly throughout the material.

C + H20 2CO + H2

C + 2H20 CO2 + 2H2

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Chemical Activation

Non-incinerated carbonaceous material is treated with dehydrating

or oxidizing chemicals and heated to between 400 and 800C.

The activating agents (usually zinc chloride, phosphoric acid, potassium

sulfide or others) are leached out and recovered.

Chemical activation is often used on lignin-based starting materials.

The activation process is carried out in rotary kilns, multiple hearth furnaces,
shaft or fluidized-bed furnaces, or in fluidized-bed reactors.

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Applications

The most common product forms of activated carbon include the following
types:

extruded (usually in the form on

cylindrical pellets),

granular activated carbon and

powder activated carbon (in specified particle sizes).

Activated carbon finds extensive use as an adsorbent for the removal of a

wide range of contaminants from liquids and gases.

It is also used to adsorb a product, such as a solvent, from a process stream,

with the adsorbed product being subsequently desorbed onsite for reuse.

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Applications

The use of activated carbon in liquid-phase applications greatly exceeds its

use in gas-phase applications.

The three largest liquid-phase applications are treatment of potable water

(37% of total activated carbon used), treatment of wastewater (21%), and
decolorization of sugar (10%).

The three largest gas-phase applications are air puriication (40%),

automotive emissions control (21%), and solvent vapor recovery (12%).

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