Activated carbon boasts powerful adsorption performance, a highly developed pore structure, and a large specific surface area. These properties endow it with a wide – ranging and crucial application in the industrial field. The following provides a detailed introduction to its specific applications in different industrial scenarios:
- In the synthetic ammonia industry, activated carbon is used for the separation and purification of raw material gases. The raw material gases for synthetic ammonia usually contain impurities such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide. Activated carbon can selectively adsorb these impurity gases, enhancing the purity of the raw material gases, ensuring the efficient progress of the synthetic ammonia reaction, and reducing the poisoning of the catalyst by impurities, thus extending the service life of the catalyst.
- In the separation process of pyrolysis gases in the petrochemical industry, activated carbon can remove a small amount of moisture, heavy hydrocarbons, and sulfides from pyrolysis gases, ensuring the smooth progress of subsequent separation and processing steps and improving product quality.
In chemical production, many processes use a large amount of organic solvents, such as benzene, toluene, and acetone. Activated carbon can adsorb and recover these organic solvents. When waste gases or liquids containing organic solvents pass through the activated carbon adsorption device, the organic solvent molecules are adsorbed in the pores of the activated carbon. Subsequently, through methods such as heating and decompression, the organic solvents are desorbed, and after condensation and other treatments, the organic solvents can be recovered and reused. This not only reduces production costs but also mitigates the environmental pollution caused by organic solvents.
Activated carbon has a large specific surface area and good chemical stability, making it an ideal catalyst support. In some chemical reactions, such as catalytic hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, and oxidation reactions, loading the active components of the catalyst on activated carbon can improve the dispersion and activity of the catalyst, increase the contact area between the catalyst and reactants, and thereby enhance the reaction efficiency and selectivity. For example, in the synthesis reaction of vinyl acetate, the zinc acetate catalyst supported on activated carbon exhibits good catalytic performance.
In the production of sugars such as sucrose and glucose, activated carbon can remove pigments, odors, and impurities from sugar solutions, refining the sugar solutions. By adding activated carbon to the sugar solution, stirring, and then filtering, the colored substances and impurities in the sugar solution can be effectively adsorbed, resulting in a sugar product with a pure white color and high purity. In the beverage production industry, such as in the production of beer, wine, and fruit juices, activated carbon can also be used to remove odors, pigments, and colloidal substances, improving the taste and appearance of the beverages.
Activated carbon can adsorb pesticide residues, heavy metal ions, and other harmful substances in food and beverages. In the tea – processing industry, using activated carbon for treatment can reduce the content of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium in tea. In fruit – juice production, activated carbon can remove pesticide residues and microbial metabolites, enhancing the safety and quality of the fruit juice.
- Removal of Organic Compounds: Activated carbon has a good adsorption effect on various organic pollutants in water, such as phenols, benzenes, and petroleum products. In the treatment of industrial wastewater from industries such as printing and dyeing, papermaking, and pharmaceuticals, activated carbon can be used as an advanced treatment method to further remove the residual organic compounds in the water after biochemical treatment, enabling the wastewater to meet the discharge standards or be reused.
- Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions: For wastewater containing heavy metal ions, such as electroplating wastewater and mine wastewater, activated carbon can remove heavy metal ions such as mercury, lead, chromium, and cadmium through physical and chemical adsorption. By modifying the activated carbon, its adsorption selectivity and capacity for specific heavy metal ions can be improved.
- Adsorption of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Industries such as painting, printing, and chemicals generate a large amount of VOCs waste gas. These waste gases not only pollute the environment but also harm human health. The activated carbon adsorption method is one of the commonly used methods for treating VOCs waste gas. Activated carbon can effectively adsorb VOCs such as benzene, toluene, xylene, and acetone in the waste gas, reducing the concentration of pollutants in the waste gas. When the activated carbon is saturated with adsorption, it can be regenerated to restore its adsorption performance for continued use.
- Treatment of Malodorous Gases: Places such as waste treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, and livestock farms generate malodorous gases such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and mercaptans. Activated carbon has a good adsorption effect on these malodorous gases, improving the air quality in the surrounding environment and reducing the impact of malodorous odors on residents.
Activated carbon has a high specific surface area, good electrical conductivity, and chemical stability, making it a commonly used electrode material for supercapacitors. In supercapacitors, activated carbon electrodes can store and release a large amount of charge. They have the advantages of fast charging and discharging speeds, high power density, and long cycle life, and are widely used in fields such as electric vehicles, electronic devices, and renewable energy storage.
In the production of batteries such as lead – acid batteries and lithium – ion batteries, activated carbon can be used as an additive. In lead – acid batteries, adding activated carbon can improve the charging and discharging performance and extend the service life of the battery. In lithium – ion batteries, activated carbon can improve the rate performance and cycle stability of the battery.
Key Uses of Nitrogen Across Industries: Simplified Summary
Global Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS) Market Trends (2025–2030 Simplified)
Five Core Advantages of Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS) Agency Models in Emerging Markets (2025 Practical Analysis)