Blog
Know your carbon
Activated carbon types, selection guides and application know-how — technical articles that help in the field, free of marketing fluff.
What Is Activated Carbon? A Complete Beginner's Guide
A complete guide to what activated carbon is, how it is produced, and why a single gram holds up to a thousand square meters of surface. Adsorption, pore structure and applications.
Granular Activated Carbon (GAC): Selection and Use Guide
How granular activated carbon works, mesh ranges, iodine number targets and fixed-bed filter design considerations. A practical guide to GAC selection.
Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC): Dosing and Application Guide
Advantages of powdered activated carbon, dosing strategies, methylene blue value and decolorization applications. A PAC guide for sugar, beverage and wastewater processes.
Pelletized Activated Carbon: The Standard for Air and Gas Treatment
Advantages of extruded pellet activated carbon, CTC activity, pressure drop and VOC capture applications. Practical notes on choosing 3 mm vs 4 mm pellets.
GAC vs PAC: Granular and Powdered Activated Carbon Compared
The differences between granular (GAC) and powdered (PAC) activated carbon: cost, operating model, reactivation and application fit. A decision guide for choosing the right form.
Coconut Shell Activated Carbon: Why Is It So Prized?
The micropore structure of coconut-based activated carbon, its high hardness and superiority in drinking water applications. The production journey from shell to carbon.
Coal, Wood or Coconut: Choosing Activated Carbon Feedstock
Comparison of activated carbon feedstocks: pore structures, costs and application fits of coal, wood and coconut based carbons.
What Is Impregnated Activated Carbon? The Power of Chemisorption
How impregnated activated carbons work: which contaminants call for sulfur, KOH, KI or silver loaded carbons? The difference between adsorption and chemisorption.
Mercury Removal with Sulfur-Impregnated Activated Carbon
How sulfur-loaded activated carbon captures mercury vapor, natural gas and flue gas applications, loading ratios and bed design. A technical guide.
KOH-Impregnated Carbon: The Standard for H2S and Odor Control
The role of potassium hydroxide loaded activated carbon in H2S, SO2 and mercaptan removal. Capacity and design notes for treatment plant odor control towers.
Silver-Impregnated Activated Carbon: The Guardian of Drinking Water Filters
The bacteriostatic effect of silver-doped activated carbon, its role in household and POU water filters, silver ratios and safety standards.
Catalytic Carbon and Chloramine Removal: Power Without Impregnation
Why catalytic activated carbon outperforms standard carbon many times over in chloramine and H2S removal. Surface chemistry, peroxide number and applications.
What Is Hard Carbon? The Key Material of Sodium-Ion Batteries
How hard carbon differs from graphite and activated carbon, its role in sodium-ion battery anodes, and its production from coconut shell. A battery materials guide.
Iodine Number, CTC, BET: How to Read an Activated Carbon Data Sheet
What the parameters on an activated carbon data sheet mean: iodine number, methylene blue, CTC activity, BET surface area, hardness and ash. A buyer's comparison guide.
Choosing Activated Carbon Mesh Size: A Practical Guide
What do 6x12, 8x30 and 12x40 mesh mean? How particle size affects adsorption speed, pressure drop and filter design. A mesh selection table by application.
Steam Activation or Chemical Activation?
Comparing the two activation routes in activated carbon production: steam (physical) activation and chemical activation with phosphoric acid. Processes, product characters and selection.
Activated Carbon in Water Treatment: From Chlorine to Micropollutants
The roles of activated carbon in drinking and wastewater treatment: chlorine removal, taste and odor control, organics and micropollutant capture. GAC bed design notes.
VOC Removal and Solvent Recovery: Activated Carbon's Industrial Stage
Capturing volatile organic compounds with activated carbon, solvent recovery systems and carbon bed design. A guide for paint, printing and chemical plants.
Activated Carbon in Gold Mining: CIL and CIP Circuits
The role of activated carbon in gold recovery: CIL/CIP processes, carbon selection criteria, hardness and platelet loss, the elution and regeneration cycle.
Activated Carbon Reactivation: A Second Life for Spent Carbon
Renewing spent activated carbon through thermal reactivation: the process, its economics, capacity recovery and correctly timing the changeout.
Activated Carbon Prices and Supply Guide: What Are You Paying For?
The factors behind activated carbon pricing: feedstock, iodine number, form and packaging. Total cost per ton and the questions to ask any supplier.
