Differences between activated carbon and wood charcoal

Many consumers mistakenly believe that the carbonization furnace can also create activated charcoal, as we have discovered via customer interactions. Although "charcoal" appears in the titles of both items, they really differ greatly. The distinctions between activated carbon and wood charcoal are listed below. I gathered these in the hopes that they can assist people who are interested in them.

various processing methods

Both charcoal and activated carbon are produced from wood, coconut shells, and other raw wood materials. However, just as the creation of glass is far more involved than that of sand, so is the manufacturing of activated carbon. Wood charcoal only undergoes one carbonization step, but activated carbon has three additional processes in addition to carbonization: activation, pickling, and drying.

The microstructure varies.

In comparison to activated carbon, charcoal has bigger pores. The charcoal has big, medium, and minute pores that are ducts, vascular bundles, and holes in the sidewalls of the tissue with thin walls. The majority of the holes in charcoal are macropores, with a typical diameter of 200 nm. The pores of activated carbon are mainly micropores, and the pore diameters are divided into three categories: macropores (50 nm), which account for 10–30% of the total pore volume; micropores (2 nm), which account for about 60%–90% of the total pore volume; and mesopores, also called transition holes (2 nm–50 nm), which account for about 5–7% of the total pore volume.

The precise surface area differs in size.

The amount of surface area that the unit mass occupies is referred to as the specific surface area. That total includes all pore areas in addition to the surface area of one gram of carbon. The specific surface area of bamboo charcoal at a carbonization temperature of 500 °C or higher ranges from 150 m2/g to 350 m2/g. The specific surface area of the activated carbon produced by physical or chemical activation might range from 900 m2/g to more than 2000 m2/g. Activated carbon is more strongly adsorbed than bamboo charcoal because of the more developed pore structure, which causes the larger specific surface area to have a stronger adsorption function.

Various hardness

Great density, great hardness, and difficulty in breaking characterize bamboo charcoal. It is appropriate for household textiles that are resistant to wear. The hardness of activated carbon generated from various materials varies greatly; for example, coconut shell activated carbon has a high hardness, whereas bamboo activated carbon is lightweight, fragile, and brittle, making it unsuitable for goods with high wear resistance.

Various production costs

When compared to charcoal, which only needs one carbonization step, activated carbon needs three to five times as many activation processes. As a result, the product costs three to five times as much as charcoal.

Consumption of raw materials differs

Activated carbon typically consumes three to five times more raw materials than bamboo charcoal. For instance, 1t of bamboo charcoal may be made from 6t of bamboo, whereas 1t of bamboo activated carbon can be made from 3-5t of bamboo charcoal. Coconut shell activated carbon will undoubtedly cost more for raw materials, but the results will be superior.

Many shapes

There are many different types of charcoal, such as charcoal, flake carbon, broken charcoal, granular charcoal, charcoal powder, etc. Activated carbon is often only available as granular (diameter 8mm) or powder (diameter 0.18mm). Its usage is severely constrained since bulk activated carbon does not exist.