ACTIVATION PROCESS

Why is the activation process important?

The specific characteristics of the different types of activated carbon mainly depend on:

a) Raw materials
b) The activation process used

It should be mentioned that the same raw material activated through different processes will produce carbons that have different properties.

What is the activation process?

The activation process basically consists in reordering the carbon atoms into benzene rings to get a reticular crystalline structure similar to that of graphite. That is to say, activation consists in "multiplying" the amount of pores of a certain carbon to produce an extremely porous structure with a large available surface area to carry out the adsorption process of impurities that originate an unpleasant smell, color or taste.

Which are the main activation processes?

There are basically two processes through which activation can be achieved:

• a) Physical Process
• b) Chemical Process

produces activated carbon for a wide range of applications by means of the two processes using different raw materials.

	Physical Process The physical activation consists in oxidizing the raw material at high temperatures before the presence of an oxidizing agent, usually, water steam. Because this is an endothermic reaction generally, a constant 800° C temperature must be generated. The temperature varies depending on the raw material.
Chemical Process The chemical activation is based on dehydrating the raw material using chemical substances at an average temperature (400° to 600° C). This temperature depends on the chemical substance that is used to activate the carbon. The chemical agents that are generally used are phosphoric acid, zinc chloride and sulfuric acid.

Also visit:
[ The Mystery of Activated Carbon | Activation Process | Classification of Activated Carbon | Liquid Fase Purification | Gas Fase Purification ]