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What is Activated Carbon?

Granular activated carbon

Activated carbon is a high purity form of carbon with a very high surface area, characterised by microscopic pores. It is also sometimes referred to as active carbon, activated charcoal or active coal.


It is generally manufactured from carbonaceous raw materials such as high quality coals, coconut shells or wood, although other raw materials are constantly being investigated and developed.  CPL Activated Carbons is proud to be able to offer many different types of activated charcoal/carbon, under our FiltraCarb® brand.

What is Activated Carbon? - - CPL Activated Carbons

Raw Material Charring and Activation

The raw material is charred, in the absence of oxygen, before it undergoes an activation process that opens up the microscopic pore structure and imparts the huge surface area required for purification applications.

What is Activated Carbon? - - CPL Activated Carbons

High-Temperature Activation Techniques

The activation process is normally performed in a high temperature kiln in the presence of steam, although other techniques are utilised within the carbon industry, for example activation with acidic chemicals.

What is Activated Carbon? - - CPL Activated Carbons

Adsorption with Activated Carbon

It is the huge surface area of activated carbon that makes it suitable for removing unwanted impurities from liquid and gas phase streams, in a process called adsorption.

Activated carbon is generally supplied in either granules (GAC – granular activated carbon), powder (PAC – powdered activated carbon) or extruded carbon/pellet forms, although other physical forms such as activated carbon cloth and solid carbon monoliths also exist.

The choice between activated carbon granules, powder and extruded carbon depends on the details of the customer’s process and the treatment objectives they have for their purification step(s).

Here at CPL Activated Carbons, we have a team of experts ready to help customers select the optimum purification solution for their process, in terms of the best activated carbon media, mobile filters and, where possible, the reactivation of the spent adsorption media.

Any company importing activated carbon into the European Union, or the UK, requires certification under the REACH regulations (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals, coordinated by the European Chemicals Agency, ECHA), and CPL has full certification for both its UK and Spanish entities. Our sister company, Puragen Activated Carbons, has EU REACH registration for its French and Dutch entities, for both steam activated carbon (high density skeleton, HDS) and chemically activated carbon (low density skeleton, LDS) types.

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