Activated carbon
Activated carbon refers to carbon that is produced in such a way that it is very porous and has an extremely large surface area. The large surface area makes activated carbon an excellent filter. The activated carbon is produced by treating charcoal with oxygen to open up millions of pores in the charcoal increasing the surface area of the carbon by several hundred times. Substances can then be adsorbed onto this large surface area to remove them from the surrounding environment.
Activated carbon air has many uses. In industry, activated carbon is used in filters to remove impurities from liquids and gases. When passing through the activated carbon filter, impurities bind to the carbon and are left behind as a liquid or gas passes through the filter. Flow rate is important since a slower flow will allow more time for contact with the filter. The larger the surface area of the filter, the longer it will last. Once all the binding sites in the activated carbon filter are saturated then the filter must be changed to remain effective. Activated carbon works well to filter drinking water. Because it removes organic chemicals from the water, it improves the color and the taste of the water.
In medicine, activated carbon is used in overdoses and poisonings. By giving a patient the activated carbon shortly after a drug or poison has been ingested the toxic substance can be bound and then removed from the patient’s system before it is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Activated carbon has also been used in medicine to filter a patient’s blood much as it is used to filter water or air to remove poisons long after they have been ingested by the patient.
For decades, activated carbon has been used as a home remedy for irritable bowel syndrome. It has also been used to purify distilled alcoholic beverages removing impurities cause by residual organic chemicals that spoil the taste and color of these liquors.
At times disposal of used activated carbon filters can be a problem. Since some of the substance that has been filtered is toxic such as in the case of mercury, their disposal is regulated.
