subject: Activated Carbon Adsorption And How It Works [print this page] Activated carbon is a highly permeable filtering material with immense surface area. It has special connection to organic materials such as solvents used in printing inks and ordinary coatings. It can be made from materials such as coal, wood, and coconut shells because of the large size of their surfaces and the permeable nature of its pores. The bigger pores helped to longer the activated carbon functions. The material which has selected to be used as activated carbon must undergo an oxidation process. The dehydration and carbonization process involves the slow heating of the material at high temperatures. The carbon material is activated to density and hardness with the help of other oxidizing substances like chemicals or gases.
To determine the breaking point, the activated carbon undergoes a number of tests. Breaking point is important in chemical processes as it is the time when the activated carbon begins to lose its adsorbent quality. The point helps the user to know when the activated carbon needs to be replaced and reactivated. The process of adsorption has three stages. When the activated carbon placed in the water, the polluted substances started to stick to the carbon first. Then the polluted matter started to move into the big pores. Finally it adsorbed to the inner surface of the carbon.
How activated carbon works
Activated carbon has the filtering capacity that suck contaminants from water and gases like a sponge. The benefit of adsorption is that it does not create a chemical reaction between the carbon and the pollutants. But it may create some reaction during the filtering process due to the presence of oxygen and hydrogen atom sticking to the surface of carbon molecules.
The success of the activated carbon filtration method depends on the source and nature of the carbon source. The strength of the carbon source is important in filtering as the walls of the carbon pores must resist the pressures generated by the filtering process. In the filtering process, two mechanisms are working at the same time. Particles of contaminants are adhered to the pores of the activated carbon first. The available surface area and the pore size are important in the filtering process. In the second mechanism, the contaminants held against the walls of the pores by the force that exists in the molecules of like substances.
In simple words, activated carbon adsorption taken place to the exterior of the activated carbon first and then it move to the carbon pores and finally adsorb to the interior walls of the carbon. Adsorption capacity of the activated carbon decreases over time and it will need to be reactivated or replaced.
by: Boyce Carbon
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