Activated Carbon

Being relatively inexpensive and lightweight, with pores ranging from 1 to 50

Ångstroms (Å), carbon can adsorb most paint solvents and even semiVOCs
(SVOCs) such as plasticizers. Though widely used and preferred, activated carbon
is not without disadvantages. The three primary drawbacks are:
1. Its combustibility, with the potential to promote a fire when heated above
600°F.
2. Its hydrophobic structure, which requires relative humidity control. Carbon’s
adsorption capacity drops significantly at 50 to 60% relative humidity.
Reheat coils are often required, especially when controlling a wet venture
paint spray booth.
3.Impurities that naturally occur in carbon. These impurities can act as catalysts
and promote polymerization or oxidation of solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone
(MEK) and cyclohexanone, resulting in byproducts that cannot be desorbed
or that might be hazardous.
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In certain applications, a granular activated carbon (GAC) pre-filter is installed
upstream of the carbon adsorption media. A GAC prefilter, often termed a sacrificial
bed, adsorbs high boiling VOCs or SVOCs. GAC protects the activated
carbon media from being saturated with compounds that can not be completely
desorbed by the limited desorption temperature (250°F) typically
used with carbon media. A GAC bed also dampens fluctuations in VOC content,
typical of paint spray booth applications, providing a relatively steady VOC
concentration to the downstream media.
• Hydrophobic Zeolite: Zeolites are sometimes called molecular sieves
because of their crystalline framework with pores and interconnecting
voids. The resulting homogeneous pore size prevents molecules
larger than a certain size from entering the lattice. By varying the
structure and pore size, the selectivity for various size solvent molecules
can be achieved. Synthetic zeolite has a much greater adsorption
capacity than carbon at low solvent concentrations, but carbon
has a higher capacity at high concentrations. Hydrophobic zeolite, a
synthetic porous silicate, is non combustible and capable of withstanding
temperatures as high as 1,100°F when coated on a ceramic,
honeycomb structure. It can be desorbed at 400° F, the working limit
of the desorption section seals. A higher operating temperature allows
the removal of solvents with boiling points above 175°C (350°
F). Often, versatility is sacrificed for selectivity. Synthetic zeolite has a
lower capacity for some common solvents (e.g., xylene and high flash
aromatic naphtha 100). Because activated carbon has a wide range of
pore sizes it does not exhibit this type of selectivity.
The two absorbents can be viewed as complimentary rather than competing
technologies. One can take advantage of their different adsorption characteristics
and use carbon and zeolite together, both as separate phase and mix media, to
control complex VOC streams at coating and other manufacturing facilities. In many
cases the most advantageous type of media can be selected based on general guidelines;
however specific performance guarantees must be developed from laboratory
analysis of individual process conditions. In many cases, one or more concentrator
types may be practical and a detailed economic analysis based upon your specific
costs of fuel and electricity will be required to determine the best selection.