VinaSorb® Activated Carbon 

VinaSorb® activated carbon is manufactured in Vietnam using carefully selected raw materials and controlled activation processes. Our products are designed to provide reliable adsorption performance, consistent quality, and application-specific pore structures.

We supply activated carbon solutions for :

• Drinking-water treatment

• Wastewater treatment

• Air purification

• Semiconductor and chemical processing

• Gold recovery

• Food and beverage purification

• Industrial filtration

What Is Activated Carbon?

Activated carbon is a highly porous adsorbent designed to capture and remove unwanted substances from liquids and gases. Its internal pore structure provides an exceptionally large surface area, allowing contaminants to be retained through adsorption.

Activated carbon is widely used in water treatment, air purification, food and beverage processing, chemical manufacturing, gold recovery, and industrial filtration.

How Does Activated Carbon Work?

The performance of activated carbon comes from its highly developed pore structure. Different pore sizes play different roles in the adsorption process:

• Micropores capture smaller molecules.

• Mesopores support the adsorption of medium-sized molecules and improve adsorption kinetics.

• Macropores act as transport channels, allowing contaminants to enter the internal pore structure.

In addition to physical adsorption, the surface chemistry of activated carbon can also contribute to the removal or decomposition of certain contaminants.

Typical Applications

Activated carbon can be used to remove or reduce:

• Organic contaminants

• Odors and unpleasant tastes

• Color compounds

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

• Residual chemicals

• Heavy metals

• Process impurities

For certain industrial applications, activated carbon can also assist in decomposing hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.

Coconut Shells → Carbonization → Charcoal → Crushing → Activation → Screening → Washing → Finished Product

Steam Activation of Coconut-Shell Activated Carbon

Steam activation is widely used to produce high-quality activated carbon from coconut shells. The process begins with carbonization: carefully selected coconut shells are heated under controlled conditions to produce coconut-shell charcoal.

The charcoal is then activated in a furnace at temperatures typically ranging from 850°C to 1,000°C. During this stage, steam reacts with the carbon under carefully controlled low-oxygen conditions, gradually developing and enlarging the internal pore structure.

The main reaction can be expressed as:

C + H₂O → H₂ + CO

As the reaction proceeds, part of the carbon is converted into hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases. This controlled removal of carbon atoms opens and expands the internal pores, creating a highly porous carbon structure with a large surface area.

The activation conditions can be adjusted to develop different pore-size distributions, allowing the activated carbon to be tailored for specific applications. Depending on the targeted product specifications, approximately 2 to 4 kg of coconut-shell charcoal may be required to produce 1 kg of activated carbon.

Washing and Purification

After activation, the activated carbon may undergo additional washing treatments to reduce soluble ash and other impurities.

• Water washing is used to remove water-soluble ash and residual impurities.

• Acid washing is used when a lower ash content or higher purity is required. After acid washing, the activated carbon is repeatedly rinsed with water to remove any remaining traces of the acid solution.

These additional treatments help ensure stable product quality and make the activated carbon suitable for applications with more demanding purity requirements.