Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Activated carbon

deltaH - 20-2-2015 at 01:06

There is a huge variety of commercial activated carbons available with a very large variety of tailored properties that I won't delve in now for the sake of brevity.

I'm looking for the cheapest commercial version possible, can some with experience in this please advise?

I really don't need any specific qualities whatsoever in regards to the pores, surface area or nature etc. Just the cheapest activated carbon commercially available.

What type would that be?

Thanks in advance with any help :)

EDIT: Originally had carbon black instead of activated carbon, had crossed neurons in my brain :mad:

[Edited on 20-2-2015 by deltaH]

CHRIS25 - 20-2-2015 at 02:05

Have you considered making it - that seems very cheap, I made about 100 g. Now you said the pore size, quality etc is not important that is why I mention this. Hard wood in a paint can that has been cleaned with fire, Stand the hard wood upright and pack the can, seal very tightly and puncture one of two small holes in the lid. Set in middle of fire, wait 30 minutes or so, eventually a very high pressure smoke will issue out, this turns to a rocket/jet like blue flame that when it dies down you remove the can from the fire and place a pre-wet cloth on the holes to prevent any oxygen being sucked back in to the can. Voila pure carbon. There is another step to activate involving saturating the carbon in Phosphoric acid or calcium chloride, but I'll leave that for the moment.

deltaH - 20-2-2015 at 03:07

Thanks CHRIS25. Small amounts of activated carbon for experimentation is also readily available OTC (water purifier canisters, aquarium shops, brewing supplies etc.).

But I am trying to roughly estimate the cost of a bulk commercial form in order to determine if an invention of mine is commercially viable, but I was swamped by the varieties available, so I was hoping that someone with experience in this industry might suggest the cheapest type of activated carbons.

For example, I believe bituminous coal-derived activated carbon is pretty low cost, but was wondering if there's a further commercial grade/subset or another type that is known to be the cheapest.

Zombie - 20-2-2015 at 04:41

Wood or coconut is far less expensive. I ran an Angel Fish breeding program in NY for 5-6 years.

For vapor or fluid filtration of most compounds wood or coconut is fine. For metals filtration Coal is needed.

I used to purchase 55 gallon drums for 250.00 from a commercial aquarium supplier in Tarrytown NY.

I'm sure these type suppliers will have the best price unless you go direct to a manufacturer.
China would be out of the question due to shipping cost at that weight. approx 600 lbs.

deltaH - 20-2-2015 at 05:53

Thanks, Zombie, exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. There are a few companies in South Africa that sell these type of activated carbons so shouldn't be a problem to get them locally as well. Will enquire about the wood/coconut husk varieties then. Thanks for the advice!