Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Actived Carbon

Actived Carbon

qdung92ct - 5-4-2012 at 05:34

Hi

I use Actived Carbon to adsorb Acetic Acid solution
now I wanna regenarate Actived Carbon
what would I do ?

Thanks

bbartlog - 5-4-2012 at 07:40

Wash with Na2CO3 solution, then twice with water, then bake dry. Sufficient for most purposes, and for purposes where it's not sufficient I'd just get some fresh new activated carbon.

qdung92ct - 6-4-2012 at 04:54

Can you explain for me why you use Na2CO3 ?

Not fresh water

Thanks

weiming1998 - 6-4-2012 at 06:06

Because the activated carbon is adsorbed full of vinegar, and using fresh water is going to take a long time, and are going to leave acidic residues that can contaminate the next thing that you adsorb. Using a dilute solution of Na2CO3/NaHCO3 will neutralize the vinegar, allowing the solid Na acetate to dissolve in water, and the repeated washing gets rid of the acetate. After drying, you have fresh activated carbon again. Simple as that.

[Edited on 6-4-2012 by weiming1998]

watson.fawkes - 6-4-2012 at 09:43

Industrially, activated carbon can be regenerated with heat under vacuum or a reducing or neutral atmosphere. Heat desorbs whatever is on the surface. The absence of an oxidizing atmosphere prevents destruction of the carbon.

In the lab, this could be done with a ventilated muffle furnace, with a charge of ordinary charcoal on the inlet side of the muffle and the carbon to be regenerated on the outlet. The charcoal is sacrificial, using up atmospheric oxygen and converting it largely to carbon monoxide. Clearly, this needs good ventilation in the lab.

Pyro - 6-4-2012 at 12:22

you shouldn't really bother about cleaning it, the price of new does not warrant the effort of cleaning your old stuff

Aurum555 - 6-4-2012 at 20:15

If you want to just create your own activated carbon it isn't too difficult. Start with hard wood shavings and soak them in a CaCl₂ solution. Then heat them to anywhere between 450 C- 900 C. Be sure to do this in an oxygenless atmosphere, or in an enclosed space to ensure only small amounts are converted directly to ash and CO₂.