Activated carbon industry

Industry Profile

Activated carbon is a specially treated carbon that heats organic raw materials (husks, coal, wood, etc.) in the absence of air to reduce non-carbon components (a process known as carbonization). The activated carbon then reacts with the gas, and the surface of the activated carbon is eroded, creating a structure with well-developed pores (a process called activation). Since the activation process is a microscopic process, that is, the surface erosion of a large number of molecular carbides is point erosion, so the activated carbon surface has numerous tiny pores. Most of the micropore diameters on the surface of activated carbon are between 2 and 50 nm. Even a small amount of activated carbon has a huge surface area. The surface area of each gram of activated carbon is 500 to 1500 m2. Almost all applications of activated carbon are based on this feature of activated carbon.

The Chinese national standard classifies activated carbon according to two parts: one part is classified according to the main raw materials used in manufacturing, and the other part is classified according to the combination of raw materials used in manufacturing and corresponding product shapes.

Activated carbon is divided into four categories according to the main raw materials used in manufacturing: coal activated carbon, wood activated carbon, synthetic activated carbon and other activated carbons. It is divided into 16 types according to the main raw materials used in manufacturing and the corresponding product shape combination.

Among them, coal-based activated carbon is divided into: columnar coal-based granular activated carbon, crushed coal-based granular activated carbon, powdered coal-based granular activated carbon, and spherical coal-based granular activated carbon.Wood particle activated carbon is divided into: columnar wood particle activated carbon, broken wood particle activated carbon, powdery wood particle activated carbon, spherical wood particle activated carbon.Synthetic activated carbon is divided into: columnar synthetic activated carbon, crushed synthetic activated carbon, powdered synthetic activated carbon, shaped activated carbon, spherical synthetic activated carbon, cloth synthetic activated carbon (carbon fiber cloth), felt synthetic material Activated carbon (carbon fiber felt).

Other types of activated carbon refer to activated carbons prepared from other raw materials (such as coal tar, petroleum coke, etc.) in addition to the above three types of activated carbons. In the product shape classification, pitch-based microsphere activated carbons are temporarily listed.

In the various applications of activated carbon, Appendix A of the Chinese National Standard "Activated Carbon Classification and Nomenclature" provides a comparison table of the main uses of different types of activated carbon. This comparison table provides convenience for different users to select different types of activated carbon and its application , see the table below