This Small Business Innovative Research Phase I project addresses a new cost-effective, environmentally friendly process for producing activated carbon (AC). Prior experimentation conducted by the principal investigator has demonstrated that it is possible to produce AC in small laboratory batches using a new low-cost raw material - coke breeze. This Phase I project will extend that understanding and test the process at larger scale and in a more industrially-relevant scenario. This research represents a critical intermediate step towards the production of AC in commercial quantities. The proposed approach is counter-intuitive and demonstrating its feasibility will constitute a technological breakthrough, because prior attempts to convert coke breeze to AC have been unsuccessful.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is substantial since the current U.S. market for AC is large and is predicted to grow at a 10% annual rate to reach 650,000 metric tons by 2016. This growth is precipitated in large part by recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations concerning emissions from coal fired power plants and drinking water standards. Application of the new technology will decrease raw material costs by two-thirds and production costs 40 percent versus competing materials. The availability of lower cost, higher quality AC will permit its wider application with significant societal benefits. The environmental implications of this new technology are equally important. It is anticipated that use of the new technology and the alternate raw material will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing by 40-50%, and will virtually eliminate the release of toxic airborne emissions.
