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Glass Industry
Float Glass Plant

Activated Carbon Plant

It is industry proven and worldwide recognized that the multiple hearth furnaces are the best
tool to produce high grade activated carbon and they have the highest efficiency as well with

CVD On Line Coating

Tin Bath Atmosphere Recycling
Thermal Processing Equipment
Multiple Hearth Furnaces

very little carbon loss (Efficiencies as high as 95% could be attained) . More than 400 multiple
hearth furnaces are installed worldwide and half of them are dedicated to activated carbon
production and regeneration of spent carbon. Calgon, Norit and Chemivron use widely those
furnaces for producing activated carbon.
Basics of thermal activation of carbon
Activated carbon can be made from a wide range of source materials, such as coal, coconut

ProductsTreated in MHF
Activated Carbon Plant
Reference
Careers

shells , wood etc. The material is often carbonized then activated in a high temperature
environment to produce an extensive network of pores. These pores provide sites for the
adsorption of chemical contaminants in gases or liquids.
The activation of carbon is carried out at high temperatures (up to 1000C) with steam for
gasification of a part of the fixed carbon as per the following reactions :
C+H2O >> H2 + CO

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C+CO2 >> 2CO

The gasification process can be manipulated to produce desired characteristics in the product..
The gasification phase is influenced by the following parameters, that also determine the
quality of the final product.
1. chemical nature and concentration of the oxidizing gases
2. temperature of reaction
3. length of the activation and rate of reaction
4. nature of the raw material
Description of a Typical Installation
At this stage , we have made the assumption that the coconut shell is carbonized and its
content on volatile matters is approximately 20%. The carbonized product would go through the
following processing steps :
Grinding: The raw material is ground to the size distribution that is required. (between 1
an 3 mm depending on the use)
The Activation: The product is carried to the top of the furnace through a bucket
elevator. The furnace has a diameter of approximately 6 meters and 7 hearths. The
furnace is essentially composed by a cylindrical shell (carbon steel) supported by steel or
concrete legs. The total height of the furnace is approximately 15 meters.

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See the MHF for full description of the furnace.

Each hearth is supplied with minimum 3 gas burners . There is a steam injection foreseen
also on each hearth. An automatic control of the burners and the temperature on each
hearth is supplied.
Cooling of Activated Carbon: The activated carbon is cooled down at the furnace exit
thru water or indirectly via heat exchangers.
Storage and Packing: The activated carbon is transported via a conveyor or pumping
system to the screening equipment . From there it fills the silos of different size
distribution. The bags are filled from the bottom of the silos.
Advantages of Multiple Hearth Furnaces
The activation of the carbon, requires a control of the gaseous atmosphere and un good
distribution of the air. It is necessary that all air is burned in gaseous phase and that it does not
reach the carbon bed. From their design , the multiple hearth furnaces are the ideal equipment
for producing activated carbon.
They are completely sealed , preventing parasite air from entering the furnace and
burning the carbon, thus reducing the efficiency of the furnace.
It easily allows the introduction of combustion and activation products at different points of
the furnace. Their introduction at different points , allows to control the reaction rate, and
avoid to have a maximum rate of activation at the product entry as is the case with a
rotary kiln.
It allows to have the desired temperature profile and reduce carbon losses.
Multiple hearth furnaces have a big flexibility of operation. They can use for
carbonisation, activation and regeneration in continuous operation.
Estimated Investments
Our plants come at different sizes from 50 tons per month to 1000 tons per month.
The furnace includes:
Refractory parts
Metallic parts (steel shell and platforms)
Gas burners and auxiliary piping around the furnace
Raw material storage silo (15 m3)
Extractor and raw material conveyor from storage silo to top of the furnace
Chute and double sealed valve at furnace top inlet
Activated carbon discharger and quenching device.
Staircases, access ladders and floors around the furnace
Fans, ducting, motors and mechanical equipment
PLC - and electrical cabinets.
The rough schedule for the erection of a 200 MT plant is as follows:
Engineering and fabrication of equipment: 8 to 10 months
Packing and transportation : +/- 2 months
Mounting on site: 6 to 8 months
Drying, testing , heating up and start up : +/-2 months

Questions before you request a quotation

Question 1 : Should the raw material be carbonized? If no, what are its characteristics,
humidity, dry weight percentage of the volatile material, carbon, ash content and size
distribution. Should we envisage the carbonization only for the activated carbon production or
other uses as well ?If yes; what are the characteristics of the carbonised coconut shells?
Humidity, dry weight percentage of the volatile material, carbon, ash content and size
distribution
Question_2: What is the desired quality of the activated carbon and for which applications?

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Iodine number : Methylene Blue : Benzene absorption : Bulk density Other indexes? Size
distribution or mesh range?
Question 3: Have you already conducted activation tests? If yes what are the results and
under which conditions?
Question 4: Do you need an heat recuperator at the exhaust fumes? If yes what are the
characteristics of the steam to be produced?
Question 5: Do you have a boiler water treatment on site? If yes , what are boiler water
characteristics? If no, should we include it in the quotation?
Question 6: What are the local restriction as to the dust emissions? Should we foresee
exhaust fumes washing?
Question 7: What is the climatical data ?
Question 8: What is the desired length of exploitation of the factory, and the desired daily
tonnage to be produced?
Question 9: Do we have on site the following utilities: cooling water, steam, instrument air,
natural gas?
Sketch of plant
1. COCONUT SHELL GRINDER
2. FEEDING BUCKET ELEVATOR
3.
FURNACE
FEEDING
SCREW
CONVEYOR
4. ACTIVATION FURNACE
5. ACTIVATED CARBON COOLING
6. ACTIVATED CARBON CONVEYOR
7. ACTIVATED CARBON SCREENING

8. ACTIVATED CARBON STORAGE

9. PACKING
10. HEAT RECUPERATOR (OPTION)
11. EXAUST GAS CLEANING (OPTION)
12. EXAUST CENTRIFUGAL FAN (OPTION)
13. CHIMNEY

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