Granular Activated Carbon – A Filtration and Adsorption Medium

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Do you know what GAC or granular activated carbon is? GAC or granular activated carbon is a hybrid mixture of diverse graphite platelets interconnected by non-graphitic carbon bonding. GAC has good adsorptive capacity which enables it to remove various contaminants from gases, liquids, air and water. Moreover, GAC is an eco-friendly product that is reactivated by thermal oxidation and is used for the same application for multiple times.

EPA or Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S. and other health departments regard that adsorption through GAC is the most effective technology for removing organic materials from surface water.

Production of Activated Carbon

Activated carbon is produced from varieties ofcarbon-rich materials like peat, coconut shells, woods, lignite, subbituminous coal, anthracite and bituminous coal. By chemical or thermal activation these materials get converted to activated carbon. In thermal treatment, steam gasificationis used and in chemical activation, inorganic reactive additives are used at a low temperature.

Adsorption by Granular Activated Carbon or GAC

How does the process of adsorption take place? When electronic structure of activated carbon which is the adsorbent interacts with some odor or taste causingsubstance like geosmin, then adsorption takes place. Porous surface of activated carbon kinetically attracts molecular compounds. GAC, when paired with UV disinfection system or by its own, is effective in removing the following –

  • DBPs or Disinfection byproducts related to chlorine and other alternativedisinfectants.
  • Organic materials produced from decaying plants or other natural matters that act as precursors for DBPs.
  • Odor and taste causing compounds.
  • Algal toxins like anatoxin-A, cylindrospermopsinand microcystin-LR.
  • Personal care items and pharmaceuticals.
  • Endocrinedisrupting compounds.

Filtration by Granular Activated Carbon or GAC

GAC has proved to be an efficient physical filtration mode in water treatment plants. Further, it also protects the quality of the water by adsorption of chemical contaminants or odor and taste causing compounds. Want to have a new GAC filter? Well, before designing any new Granular Activated Carbon filter or attaching a filter with GAC, it is necessary to take into account certain practical considerations. They are –

  • Filter on-stream timing
  • Hydraulic requirements
  • Availability of backwash water
  • Properties of GAC like its density, abrasion resistance and adsorption ability
  • Evaluation of the cost required to convert a filter into GAC

Make sure that the filter design allows optimal expansion offering a few inches of clearance between bottom and top of backwash trough. Thus, GAC not only filters water but also its residual substance.

What Are Activated Carbon Air Filters?

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Carbon air filters are the filters most generally used to eliminate gases. They are intended to filter gases through a bed of activated carbon (also called activated charcoal) and are normally used to battle unpredictable natural mixtures (VOCs) delivered from regular family items. They are also regularly used to eliminate scents from the air, for example, the smell of tobacco smoke. They can’t eliminate fine particles like form, residue, or dust from the air.

The Vivid History of Carbon Filtration

To begin with, what is charcoal or carbon? These compatible terms allude to the remainders of deficient ignition. Picture the singed piece of wood that is left over after an open air fire. Just the promptly flammable material in the wood has consumed with extreme heat, either in view of lacking warmth or helpless stock of oxygen. The dark burn that remains is for the most part carbon. The modern cycle of making charcoal achieves it by warming a substance in a vacuum chamber, which delivers every one of the unstable mixtures and gives up all the carbon. Wood is ordinarily used to make charcoal, but coconut shells and coal are also utilized. Every substance makes a somewhat different sort of charcoal.

How is carbon activated? Activated carbon will be carbon that has gone through some extra preparing to improve it at catching gas particles. In the first place, it is infused with hot air, carbon dioxide, or steam, which makes a cross section of little pores in the carbon, endlessly expanding its surface zone. This makes a lot more places for atoms to get caught and makes the carbon undeniably more viable as a filter medium. A paper by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency takes note of that a solitary gram of activated carbon can have many square meters of interior surface region. Most activated carbon is also treated with a compound that upgrades its capacity to filter specific toxins.

The vivid history of utilizing carbon filtration. How did people sort out that carbon can be powerful at filtering impurities? It is likely the soonest use was to eliminate contaminations in smelted metal for the manufacture of bronze. The Egyptians seem to have been the first to utilize it in a clinical manner, to eliminate smells associated with diseases. We realize that mariners in the sixteenth through eighteenth hundreds of years frequently put away their savoring water barrels that had either been singed or spread with charcoal within to keep the water new on long journeys. In World War I, gas masks used charcoal to filter out some of the destructive gases utilized against the soldiers, but it was just successful against some of the poisons. The creation and utilization of activated carbon developed significantly solely after World War II, at last prompting the improvement of present day activated carbon air and water filters.

Activated Carbon Is A Widely Used Absorbent – Protects Our Lives

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People are watching the dynamic changes in the technological worldwide. The innovation leads to prompt execution. As a result, human beings can have an ease in life. The natural resources such as water as well as fuel are widely manufactured in the factories. There was a time when we used to get the natural resources in abundance. But today the population as well as other factors has reduced its availability. But the technology has replenished it with artificial resources.

Absorption of Activated carbon- Recycling and Purification

Some of you may not be aware of the absorption process. It is nothing but the formation of fluidic substance of the molecules, atoms and ions. As a result, the atoms as well as molecules are easily removed from the fluid. The impurities are separated in this particular process. As a result, the system of purifications is effectively done.

Also, there is a good reason for using the activated carbon. There is a particular nature of the activated carbon. It is just that the particles have the huge surface area. Also, another feature of the activated carbon is hazardous nature. Due to these two features, the activated carbon has become a wonderful absorbent.

There is a full procedure of the same. Once this process is completed there is another process which the activated carbon is run for. It is known as the desorption process. This particular process is mean for removal of the molecules that are already absorbed. The need of the activated carbon is very minimum amount. Also, it is less than a second while performing the job. As compared to other type of compound the activated carbon works really well in removing all impurities. Another reason for using the activated carbon as an absorber is the feature of micro porosity. As a result, it has huge surface area.

There have been reviews of the eminent researchers. According to them, there has been great development within the qualified market players. As a result, carbon is very well in a position of activated form. We observe several issues in water. This is a reason why we need to have purification of water. Also, by using the modern purification method of the complex issues are resolved.

The Use of Activated Carbon

There are diverse filed where the activated carbon is used. These are:

  • Water treatment
  • Food and beverage industry
  • Waste treatment
  • Chemical purification
  • Automotive emission control
  • Air purification
  • Vapor recovery
  • Biogas and natural gas purification

How to Choose Right Type of Activated Carbon?

Not all types of activated carbon are worth and useful for all purpose. There are activated carbon of different shapes and sizes. Those are granular, pellets, powdered etc. Also, you can get several grades of each type of carbon. It is the raw material on which the porosity of the activated carbon is one of the considerations. Whether you are willing to have purification of water, chemical purification, or any other fluids, the use of different type of activated carbon is necessary.

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