Activated Carbon Treating Hydrogen Sulfide at Wastewater Treatment Plants

Wastewater treatment facilities do our dirty work – activated carbon can help do theirs. Activated carbon is a carbonaceous material that does an excellent job of cleaning the air and water we consume. Most of the problematic and health-hazard odors that are emitted from the wastewater systems are Hydrogen Sulfide and other similar sulfur compounds. There are a few different types of activated carbon designed specifically to remove these nasty odors from wastewater treatment plants. Standard activated carbon has a limited capacity for H2S so we suggest a caustic impregnated carbon, GC IPH or GC IPHg, or a catalytic activated carbon, GC Sulfursorb-A and GC Sulfursorb Plus.

Standard activated carbon uses physical adsorption to remove molecules. Adsorption is when molecules stick to the surface area of the filter media. To create the activated carbon material, the base carbon is super-heated, or activated if you will, to create a gigantic internal pore structure. Because of this highly developed pore structure, there is a very large surface area.

Caustic impregnated carbon uses chemisorption to remove hydrogen sulfide from the vapor streams. To create a caustic impregnated carbon, you must take standard activated carbon, GC 4x8S or GC 4x8B, and spray potassium hydroxide on it. The H2S will react with the potassium hydroxide which creates sulfur (S).

Catalytic activated carbon is the best product to use for H2S adsorption. It first uses physical adsorption which is then followed by oxidation. This turns the H2S into H2SO4. Due to the different activation process, catalytic carbon has a  larger capacity for H2S than standard or caustic carbon does. Also, unlike Caustic Impregnated carbons, Catalytic carbon does not have bed fires.

These products are designed to remove hydrogen sulfide and the related compounds but have limited capacity for other general odors. Sometimes a blend is required to remove all the odors from the wastewater treatment plants. Present your application to us and we will provide the best solution.