What type of filtration method does an activated carbon filter belong to, and describe its filtration mechanism?

An activated carbon filter is a multi-media filter and falls under the category of gravity filtration and pressure filtration.

The operation of an activated carbon filter is carried out through a carbon bed. The activated carbon particles that make up the carbon bed possess a large number of micropores and a very high specific surface area, giving them strong physical adsorption capabilities. Water passes through the carbon bed, and the organic pollutants in the water are effectively adsorbed by the activated carbon. In addition, there are some oxygen-containing functional groups on the amorphous parts of the activated carbon surface, which enable the organic pollutants in the water passing through the carbon bed to be effectively adsorbed by the activated carbon. The main function of an activated carbon filter is to remove large molecular organic substances, iron oxides, and residual chlorine. This is because organic substances, residual chlorine, and iron oxides can easily poison ion exchange resins, while residual chlorine, cationic surfactants, and similar substances not only poison the resins but also damage the membrane structure, causing the reverse osmosis membrane to become ineffective.

The main function of activated carbon in water treatment should be adsorption.

Activated carbon filters belong to the adsorption type. The filtration mechanism is based on the porosity and adsorption properties of activated carbon. But it’s not omnipotent; over time or due to the presence of many impurities, its adsorption capacity decreases or is lost, requiring regeneration or replacement.

Correct answer: The filtration using activated carbon comes in two types; one is biological activated carbon, which I won’t go into detail on as I don’t know much about it. The other type is ordinary granular activated carbon, which includes shaped activated carbon and crushed activated carbon. It includes two types of filtration: mechanical filtration and adsorption filtration. Mechanical filtration comes from a carbon bed formed by activated carbon; its dense distribution and arrangement enable the removal of particulate impurities. Adsorption filtration arises from the large specific surface area of activated carbon, and its mechanism is simple physical adsorption. Of course, there are other types of adsorption as well, including chemical adsorption, nested adsorption, bridge adsorption, and so on. Some of these can be considered models, while others represent only a small portion of adsorption processes.

1. The cylinder of the activated carbon adsorption filter is designed using hydraulic simulation principles regarding length-to-diameter ratios. High-performance activated carbon with an appropriate particle size and a specific surface area of over 1000㎡/g is used, enabling it to provide both effective filtration at the upper layer and high-efficiency adsorption at the lower layer; this improves the purity of the produced water as well as the service life of the carbon. 2. Residual chlorine level in water after treatment by activated carbon adsorption filter: ≤0.1PPM. 3. Excellent performance in removing unpleasant odors, organic matter, colloids, iron, and residual chlorine from water bodies ； 4. It also plays a significant role in reducing the turbidity and color of water, improving water quality, and minimizing contamination of subsequent systems (reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, ion exchangers)

Could the original poster recommend some books on activated carbon filters?

Activated carbon filtration relies primarily on adsorption for filtering; the various filters in use today are all forms of simple physical filtration, whose mechanism involves basic interception processes.

I’m an outsider – what should be done with activated carbon that has reached saturation?