What is activated carbon?

Carbon comes in many different forms. One of them is known as activated carbon - or activated charcoal or coal, to give it its alternative names. When carbon is ‘activated’, it is a micro porous substance. That means it has a lot of tiny pores that, when stretched, makes for an incredibly large volume of surface area. According to Wikipedia, a single gram of the substance has a surface area of an incredible 5,400 square feet.

Where does it come from?

Carbon Activated comes from a wide array of sources.

In fact, it could potentially originate from any material

with a high carbon content. As carbon materials decay

- in a fire, for example - they activate. The perfect

example would be wood charcoal, but it can also

come from peat, nutshells, and coconuts.

Is it safe?

There are many studies of activated charcoal to consider - and the scientific world is quite clear that it is safe. It’s the reason why it is in our water purification systems, and that the health care industry can use it to treat various conditions. It’s even put to use in high tech equipment like liver dialysis machines in hospitals. According to research, there are no adverse side effects.

Is it good for the environment?

Activated carbon is not renewable, but other sources

of carbon are OK and won’t harm the environment.

It’s natural sources you want to look for, such as

nutshells and corn stover. It’s reusable, too, and

has a negative carbon footprint.

  Coal based activated carbon originates from coal that has undergone a steam activation process. During activation, millions of pores are created on the surface of the carbon, increasing the total surface area. Coal ased carbon has mainly meso-pores and macro-pores and is very popular in gas phase purification, potable water purification, wastewater purification and aquarium/pond water purification applications.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

WADE Activated Carbon products are often used to make beverages look and taste better. Many food and beverage products require activated carbon to improve purity, appearance, or other sensory characteristics. Common applications for WADE Activated Carbon products include treating cane sugar, purifying edible oils, removing color from fruit juices, modifying flavor characteristics in alcoholic everages, and improving food additive flavors. 

GOLD RECOVERY

Activated carbon has long been used as an adsorbent in the gold processing industry to recover gold from mining solutions. Due to its high surface area and exceptional hardness, coconut shell GAC is the main product used in carbon-in-leach (CIL), carbon-in-pulp (CIP), and carbon-in-column (CIC) operating systems.

CATALYST

WADE Activated Carbon’s products offer excellent purity, extremely large surface areas, pore volume, low dust and ash, and exceptional hardness which make them perfectly suited as catalyst carriers. In some applications, our OxPure™ GAC is the catalyst itself. Among OxPure™ GAC’s main uses as a catalyst or catalyst carrier.