Activated carbon is a black, porous solid carbon material produced from coal through crushing, molding, or carbonization and activation of uniform coal particles. Its main component is carbon, and it possesses strong adsorption properties, making it an extremely versatile industrial adsorbent. There are many types of activated carbon, suitable for various fields such as factories, households, and automobiles. Below, we will introduce the types and uses of activated carbon.

Activated Carbon Classified by Material

1. Coconut Shell Carbon
   Coconut shell activated carbon is made from high-quality coconut shells sourced from Hainan, Southeast Asia, and other regions. The raw materials undergo screening, steam carbonization, and refining, followed by impurity removal, activation, and sieving. It appears as black granular particles with a well-developed pore structure, high adsorption capacity, strong durability, and stable chemical properties. It is widely used in metallurgy, chemicals, petroleum, power generation, food and beverages, drinking water, purified water, advanced purification of industrial water, and the extraction of precious metals. It is effective in decolorization, deodorization, and adsorption of impurities. When used in combination with zeolite or molecular sieves, its performance is further enhanced, making it highly popular among users.

2. Fruit Shell Carbon
   Fruit shell activated carbon is primarily made from fruit shells and wood chips through carbonization, activation, and refining. It features a large surface area, high strength, uniform particle size, and a well-developed pore structure with strong adsorption capabilities. It effectively adsorbs free chlorine, phenol, sulfur, oil, colloids, pesticide residues, and other organic pollutants in water, as well as aids in the recovery of organic solvents. It is suitable for pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, sugar refining, beverages, and alcohol purification industries, particularly for decolorization, refining, purification of organic solvents, and wastewater treatment. It is widely used in the advanced purification of drinking water, industrial water, and wastewater, as well as in the purification of domestic and industrial water quality.

3. Wood-Based Carbon
   Wood-based carbon is made from high-quality wood and appears as a powder. It is produced through high-temperature carbonization, activation, and multiple refining processes. It has a large surface area, high activity, strong decolorization power, and a well-developed pore structure with larger pores, effectively adsorbing colorants and larger impurities in liquids.

4. Columnar Carbon
   Made from high-quality wood chips, charcoal, and other raw materials through crushing, mixing, extrusion, molding, drying, carbonization, and activation, columnar activated carbon has fewer ash impurities and a more reasonable pore distribution compared to traditional coal-based columnar carbon. This maximizes adsorption and desorption, significantly extending its service life (averaging 2–3 years), which is 1.4 times that of ordinary coal-based carbon.

5. Coal-Based Carbon
   This product is refined from high-quality anthracite and comes in various shapes, such as columnar, granular, powdered, honeycomb, and spherical. It features high strength, fast adsorption speed, high adsorption capacity, a relatively large surface area, and a well-developed pore structure, with pore sizes between coconut shell and wood-based activated carbon. It is mainly used for high-end air purification, exhaust gas purification, high-purity water treatment, wastewater treatment, and sewage treatment.

Activated Carbon Classified by Appearance

1. Powdered Activated Carbon
   Generally, activated carbon with over 90% passing through an 80-mesh standard sieve or with a particle size smaller than 0.175 mm is referred to as powdered activated carbon. Powdered carbon offers advantages such as fast adsorption speed and efficient use of adsorption capacity but requires specialized separation methods. With advancements in separation technology and specific application requirements, powdered carbon particles are becoming finer, reaching micrometer or even nanometer levels in some cases.

2. Granular Activated Carbon
   Activated carbon with a particle size larger than 0.175 mm is typically called granular activated carbon. Amorphous granular activated carbon is usually made by carbonizing and activating granular raw materials, then crushing and sieving them to the required size. It can also be produced by adding appropriate binders to powdered activated carbon and processing it accordingly.

3. Cylindrical Activated Carbon
   Also known as columnar carbon, cylindrical activated carbon is generally made by mixing powdered raw materials with binders, extruding and molding, followed by carbonization and activation. It can also be produced by extruding powdered activated carbon with binders. Columnar carbon can be solid or hollow, with hollow columnar carbon featuring one or several artificially created regular small holes inside.

4. Spherical Activated Carbon
   As the name suggests, spherical activated carbon is round and spherical. Its production method is similar to that of columnar carbon but includes a pelletizing process. It can also be made by spray granulation, oxidation, carbonization, and activation of liquid carbon-containing raw materials, or by pelletizing powdered activated carbon with binders. Spherical activated carbon can also be solid or hollow.

5. Other Shapes of Activated Carbon
   In addition to powdered and granular activated carbon, there are other forms, such as activated carbon fiber, activated carbon fiber blankets, activated carbon cloth, honeycomb activated carbon, and activated carbon boards.

Activated Carbon Classified by Use

1. Coal-Based Granular Activated Carbon for Solvent Recovery
   Made from high-quality natural coal through physical activation, this black granular product is non-toxic, odorless, and features a well-developed pore structure with a reasonable distribution of three types of pores, providing strong adsorption capacity. It effectively adsorbs most organic solvent vapors over a wide concentration range and is widely used for recovering solvents such as benzene, xylene, ethanol, acetone, gasoline, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride.

2. Activated Carbon for Water Purification
   Made from high-quality natural raw materials (coal, wood, fruit shells, etc.) through physical activation, this black granular (or powdered) product is non-toxic and odorless, with strong adsorption capacity and fast filtration speed. It effectively adsorbs undesirable substances with small and large molecular structures in liquids and is widely used for purifying drinking water, treating industrial wastewater, sewage, and river water, as well as advanced purification and improvement.

3. Activated Carbon for Air Purification
   Made from high-quality coal through catalytic activation, this black columnar granular product is non-toxic and odorless, with strong adsorption capacity and easy desorption. It is widely used for gas-phase adsorption, solvent recovery, indoor air purification, industrial exhaust treatment, flue gas purification, and toxic gas protection.

4. Coal-Based Granular Activated Carbon for Desulfurization
   Made from high-quality natural coal through physical activation, this black granular product is non-toxic and odorless, with a high sulfur capacity, high desulfurization efficiency, good mechanical strength, low penetration resistance, and easy regeneration. It is widely used for desulfurization in thermal power plants, petrochemicals, coal gas, natural gas, and other gases.

5. High-Precision Desulfurization Activated Carbon
   Using high-quality columnar activated carbon as a carrier, this product is loaded with specific catalysts and catalytic additives, then dried, sieved, and packaged to create a high-efficiency, high-precision gas-phase desulfurizer for normal temperatures. It is mainly used for fine desulfurization in processes such as synthetic ammonia, methanol, methane, food-grade carbon dioxide, and polypropylene production, as well as for fine desulfurization and dechlorination of gases like coal gas, natural gas, hydrogen, and ammonia. It can reduce sulfur content in gases to 0.05 mg/Nm³.

6. Granular Activated Carbon for Protection
   Made from high-quality raw materials (coal, fruit shells) through physical activation, this granular activated carbon serves as a carrier. Using advanced equipment and strictly controlled special processes, it is manufactured as a coal carrier carbon. With a reasonable pore distribution and high wear resistance, it is widely used in phosgene synthesis, polyvinyl chloride synthesis, vinyl acetate synthesis, and other industrial applications as a coal carrier, as well as for effective protection against toxic gases such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, phosgene, and benzene series compounds.