Powdered activated carbon

Product Overview

Powdered activated carbon is the liquid-phase grade in our range. Selected wood chips, coconut shells, coal and shell material are carbonized and activated, then ground down to a fine black powder with a matte surface — a loose, free-flowing material with no binder and no formed shape, so every particle is carbon through and through. Grinding is the step that defines the product: the pore network built during activation is opened to the outside, and the powder disperses into a liquor or wastewater stream the moment it is dosed.

That dispersion is the point of the form. Colour bodies and odour compounds meet the carbon in seconds rather than over the long contact time a fixed bed needs, which is why decolorization and deodorization duties in sugar refining, edible oil, fermentation, pharmaceuticals and sewage are run this way. The powder is dosed, mixed for the contact time the duty requires, and then separated on a filter press, drum filter, clarifier or membrane, carrying the adsorbed colour out with it.

Standard production runs from 100 to 325 mesh with an iodine value above 600 mg/g, and the individual models step mesh, methylene blue value, strength and pH to suit the medium. As an activated carbon manufacturer we grind to the buyer's specification instead of pushing a single house grade, and we supply water utilities, food and fermentation plants, chemical processors, distributors and OEM buyers.

Buyers arrive with one of two starting points: a colour or odour target the plant has to hit, or a specification carried over from an existing supplier that has to be matched batch after batch. Both are workable — the first is settled with a dose trial on your own liquor, the second with a sample of the material you run today.

Technical Features

• Particle size, 100-325 mesh. A finer grind exposes more external surface and reaches working capacity faster; a coarser grind drains and filters more freely on a press or belt. As a powdered activated carbon supplier we quote a mesh band rather than a single cut, because a distribution filters more predictably than one narrow fraction.
• Iodine value above 600 mg/g. Iodine value counts micropore volume, and micropores are where small dissolved molecules are held. Standard production sits above 600 mg/g, the fine wood grade reaches at least 950 mg/g, and the coal grades span 500 to 1100 mg/g.
• Methylene blue 6-16 ml/0.1g. Methylene blue value describes the mesopores that take up larger colour molecules, which is why it predicts decolorization more closely than iodine value on its own. A wood based powdered activated carbon runs 8-16 ml/0.1g here; the shell grades run 6-12 ml/0.1g.
• Strength 90-95%. On the shell and standard wood grades this is the particle's resistance to breaking down in handling and slurry transfer. Stronger particles mean fewer fines in the filtrate and less carbon lost before it has done its work.
• Moisture below 10%. Carbon is bought by weight, so moisture is capacity you pay for and cannot use. Holding it under 10% keeps the quoted weight meaningful and helps the powder stay free-flowing in the bag.
• pH 3-5 on the sugar grade, 6-8 on coal. The wood grade used for syrup decolorization is deliberately acidic; the coal grades sit close to neutral. Check the pH against the liquor and against the wetted metallurgy before you commit a tank to it.
• Sucrose decolorization 80-100%. This is the direct measure on the wood sugar grade — how much colour it strips from a standard sucrose solution, which translates into the clarification duty at the plant.
• Purity indicators on the food grade. Acid-soluble substances, iron content and oxides are the figures a beverage or food buyer asks for before anything else, and each is quoted for the grade on its datasheet rather than as one figure across the range.

Product Advantages

Speed is the first thing buyers notice. A powder reaches most of its working capacity within minutes of contact, so the holding tank, not the carbon, sets the cycle — plants routinely shorten contact time and still hit the same colour number, which frees capacity without new equipment.

Filtration behaviour is the second. The mesh band is chosen so the bulk of the carbon stays on the filter medium instead of travelling into the filtrate; less carry-over means a lower dose per cubic metre, a clearer filtrate, and fewer problems downstream at membranes and resin beds. For a decolorization activated carbon, what leaves the filter is as much a part of the result as what the carbon adsorbs.

Repeatability is the third, and for most plants it is the one that decides the contract. A powdered activated carbon supplier is judged on the tenth container, not the first, so we hold the same mesh band, the same methylene blue range and the same strength target from order to order, and the grade sheet travels with the batch that produced it.

Range is the fourth. Wood, coconut shell, apricot shell, peach shell and coal bases are all ground in-house, so a plant with a decolorization duty and a wastewater duty can source both from one place and still get two different pore structures.

The fifth advantage is how the supply is shaped. For buyers ordering bulk activated carbon, the grade approved in the trial bag is the grade that arrives in the ton bag — same grind, same target values — which removes the re-qualification step that usually follows a supplier change.

Indicator Parameters

Applications and Use Scenarios

• Sugar and syrup refining. Wood grades are dosed into clarified juice and syrup, held while colour is taken up, then removed on a filter press. Sucrose decolorization on this grade runs 80-100%, so the carbon, not the evaporator, absorbs the colour load.
• Monosodium glutamate and fermentation broths. Fermentation liquors carry colour and residual organics that simple clarification leaves behind; the powder pulls both out before crystallisation, which protects yield and crystal colour.
• Edible oil, wine and beverage polishing. A short powder contact removes colour and off-notes without the thermal load of a stripping step, and the carbon is filtered out before packing.
• Printing, dyeing and electroplating wastewater. The wood grade TY-MZF1 is used where colour is not the only problem — it also takes up odour, chlorine, mercury, lead, arsenic and cyanide from the water stream.
• Drinking water decolorization. The 150-325 mesh shell grades are the ones specified at treatment works for colour and taste removal, dosed according to raw-water quality rather than a fixed rate.
• Honeycomb block production. Coal grade TY-MF200 is the powder feed for honeycomb activated carbon forming, where a consistent mesh and iodine value keep the extruded block's pore structure predictable.
• Waste incineration flue gas. TY-MF, a 200-325 mesh coal grade, is specified by waste-to-energy plants for dioxin adsorption in the flue-gas train.
• Reagent and laboratory solutions. Small volumes of the shell grades decolorize reagent solutions where a clear, colour-free liquid is needed for analysis or for a downstream step.

Water Treatment and Sewage Decolorization

Water is where most of this powder goes. In a municipal works the 150-325 mesh shell grades are dosed ahead of the filters to take out colour, earthy and musty odours and chlorine taste, and because the dose follows the raw water rather than a fixed bed volume, a plant can raise it during a colour event and pull it back when the source settles.

Industrial effluent is the harder duty. Printing and dyeing wastewater carries an intense colour that biological treatment leaves behind, and electroplating rinses carry dissolved metals; the wood grade TY-MZF1 is used on both, taking up colour along with odour, chlorine, mercury, lead, arsenic and cyanide. The powder is normally wet-dosed as a slurry into a rapid-mix or contact tank, coagulant is added, and the loaded carbon settles out with the floc and leaves as sludge.

Sewage plants use the same route as a polishing step before discharge, where a modest dose after secondary treatment removes the residual colour and odour the biology cannot. That is the case for a decolorization activated carbon rather than a fixed bed: dosing follows load, so seasonal or campaign peaks are met by raising the dose instead of oversizing a vessel for the quiet months.

Sizing is not something to take from a table. Send the liquor or effluent, the colour or odour figure you have to hit and the contact time you can give it, and the grade and dose are set from a jar test on your own sample. For industrial water treatment carbon duties we would rather quote against your water than against a handbook figure.

Food Refining and Pharmaceutical Purification

• Sugar solution decolorization. TY-MZF100 is the wood based powdered activated carbon most sugar houses write into their specification: sucrose decolorization 80-100% and pH 3-5, with the purity figures for the grade carried on its datasheet.
• Monosodium glutamate and fermentation. The same wood base is used ahead of crystallisation to take out colour and residual organics, protecting crystal colour and yield where a clarification step alone cannot.
• Edible oil, wine and can decolorization. A short powder contact removes colour and off-notes without the thermal load of a stripping step, and the carbon is filtered out before packing.
• Pharmaceutical purification. Process liquors are polished with a decolorization activated carbon ahead of crystallisation or final filtration; the applicable pharmacopoeia and your own validation decide which grade is acceptable, so the specification usually comes from your quality team rather than from a catalogue.
• Plant-based additive carbon. TY-MZF200 is a plant-based carbon used as a food additive and food-safety additive material; sulfate ash, water-soluble substances, arsenic and aluminum are quoted for the batch rather than printed as one range.
• Reagent addition. Small volumes of the shell grades decolorize reagent solutions where a clear liquid is needed for analysis or for a downstream step.
• What to settle before the first order. Food and pharmaceutical buyers normally need the destination market's documentation in hand before release. Tell us at enquiry stage which papers your quality team will ask for, so the grade and the paperwork are arranged together.

Quality Control

Every grade is controlled against national standards, and the checks are run in our own laboratory with the testing equipment the indicators call for. Mesh distribution, methylene blue value, strength, moisture, pH and iodine value are the numbers on the grade sheet, and each is measured on the finished powder rather than assumed from the process that made it.

For a buyer, the practical question is traceability. A powdered activated carbon supplier is judged by what arrives, so keep the batch paperwork with a retained sample of the same lot; if a later production run behaves differently, those two documents settle the question in a day rather than a month.

Two figures are worth asking for directly rather than reading off a summary. Ash content is quoted for the grade instead of published as one figure across the range, and iodine value is set per model — the coal grades alone run from 500 to 1100 mg/g, and the fine wood grade is held at 950 mg/g or above. As an activated carbon manufacturer we would rather send the actual values for the grade you intend to run than have you size a dose from a range.

If your quality team needs a pre-shipment sample, a retained sample or a specific test report, say so when you enquire and we will confirm what can be provided for that grade.

Customization Options

• Mesh. Anywhere in the 100-325 band. Toward the fine end the powder disperses faster but blinds filters sooner; toward the coarse end it drains cleanly and gives up some speed. We set the band against your filtration step, not against a default.
• Iodine value. Targeted to the grade — 500 to 1100 mg/g is the working span across the coal range, and the fine wood grade is held at 950 mg/g or above.
• Methylene blue value. 6-16 ml/0.1g depending on base; for a colour-driven duty this is the figure to fix first and hold.
• Strength and moisture. Strength is held at 90-95% on the shell and standard wood grades; moisture is held under 10% so that the dose by weight means what it says.
• Base material. Wood, coconut shell, apricot shell, peach shell or coal. A wood based powdered activated carbon behaves differently from a coal grade of the same mesh, because the base sets the pore structure — it is the first decision, not a packaging detail.
• OEM and ODM specification work. Buyers working to their own specification can have particle size and iodine value adjusted to the project, so the grade is built against a stated requirement rather than chosen from a stock list.
• What to send us. The target indicators, the medium, the contact time, the separation method and the volume you expect — enough to quote a grade that will run, not one that looks close on paper.

Packaging and Supply

Powdered carbon leaves the plant in 25 kg bags and in ton bags, and the choice is usually about how the material will be handled at the other end. A 25 kg bag suits a plant that doses sack by sack into a small tank and wants the pack size to match the batch weight; a ton bag suits a silo feed or a works that wet-doses from a single lifting point and would rather not open forty sacks.

Bags for export are lined so the powder does not pick up moisture in transit, and they stay closed to keep the carbon sealed until the moment of use. Ask us to confirm bag construction, pallet pattern and the loading plan for the container size you book, since these follow the port and the handling equipment rather than a single standard.

Storage is simple but it matters. Keep the bags closed, dry and away from solvents, paint or anything else with a strong odour — the same pore structure that removes odour from a liquor will remove it from the air in a warehouse, and carbon that has adsorbed solvent vapour is carbon you have paid for and cannot use.

For bulk activated carbon orders we schedule the grade you have approved rather than substituting a near-equivalent from another line, so the material in the last ton bag matches the first. If you are changing supplier, send a sample of what you run today and we will match the mesh and target values before anything is shipped.

Ordering and Delivery

1. Send the grade or the duty. Give us the base material, mesh band, iodine value and methylene blue value if you have them; if you do not, describe the medium and the colour or odour target instead.
2. Describe the process. Contact time available, how the powder will be dosed, and how it will be separated — press, drum, clarifier or membrane — all change which grade we recommend.
3. Ask for the technical data for that grade, and for food or pharmaceutical work the documents your market requires before release.
4. Confirm the packing: 25 kg bags or ton bags, palletised or loose, and the loading plan for your container.
5. Confirm quantity, lead time, payment terms and shipping terms with your sales contact — these are quoted per order and per destination rather than held as a catalogue figure.
6. Ask about sample availability and the lead time for a first trial before committing to a bulk quantity.
7. For industrial water treatment carbon projects, tell us the commissioning date so delivery can be scheduled around it.
8. Reach us at tianyuan@tianyuancarbon.com or on WhatsApp at +86 182 3223 1235; technical questions and quotations come through the same channel.

Technical Data & Downloads

Grade Families and Substitution

• The wood family carries the colour duties. TY-MZF100, TY-MZF200 and TY-MZF1 are the wood based powdered activated carbon grades: methylene blue 8-16 ml/0.1g, sucrose decolorization 80-100% on TY-MZF100, and a deliberately acidic pH of 3-5. Against a shell grade of the same mesh they hold more of the larger colour molecules, which is why sugar, syrup, monosodium glutamate and fermentation liquors run on this base.
• The shell family covers drinking water and general colour. TY-YKF200 (coconut), TY-XKF (apricot) and TY-TKF2 (peach) all sit at 150-325 mesh, methylene blue 6-12 ml/0.1g and strength 90-95%. Their share of mesopores is lower than the wood grades, so on a heavy colour load they usually need a higher dose to reach the same number; the trade is a milder pH and a powder suited to potable water work.
• The coal family does the forming and flue-gas work. TY-MF200 (iodine value 500-1100 mg/g, pH 6-8) is the powder feed for honeycomb block forming, and TY-MF (800-1050 mg/g) is specified for dioxin adsorption at waste incineration plants. Neither is a drop-in replacement for a food decolorizing grade, whatever its iodine value suggests.
• Match on methylene blue first for colour. When substituting one grade for another on a decolorization duty, hold the methylene blue value and the mesh band and compare iodine value second; iodine value counts micropores, which will flatter a grade that cannot take up the colour bodies your liquor actually carries.
• Match on iodine value first for small molecules. On odour, taste, chlorine and dissolved organics in an industrial water treatment carbon duty, micropore volume sets working capacity, so iodine value and mesh are the two figures to keep when changing supplier or base material.
• What should not be substituted. A coal grade cannot stand in for the acid wood sugar grade — pH 6-8 against pH 3-5 moves the liquor chemistry as well as the decolorization result. A 100-250 mesh fine grind run on a press sized for a 200-325 coal grade will blind the cloth and stretch the cycle. Neither the base nor the mesh is a detail that averages out.
• Running one grade on a colour duty and a wastewater duty. It works when both are colour-and-odour duties at similar pH: a wood grade dosed into syrup and then into a dyehouse polishing stream is a realistic consolidation, and plants running a single bulk activated carbon grade across both are common. It stops working when the wastewater carries the metals and cyanide that TY-MZF1 is chosen for, or when the colour side is a sugar liquor needing the pH 3-5 envelope that the wastewater tank cannot tolerate. Then one grade means either a higher dose on one side or an off-spec result on the other.
• How to settle it before you commit. Send a sample of both streams and we will run the candidate grade against each, then quote the dose per cubic metre for both duties. If the combined dose penalty costs less than the second grade costs you in inventory and changeover, consolidate; if it costs more, keep two grades and take the second one in 25 kg bags until the pattern is proven.

function and use and buyers

Powdered activated carbon is an industrial adsorbent built for purifying liquids and gases. Its rapid filtration and adsorption performance suits water treatment, food refining, and chemical processing, where effective decolorization and deodorization are required. Distributors, OEMs, and industrial processors can apply it in these environments, and it is worth confirming the grade and dose that fit your specific process before ordering.

Scale & Supply Capability

Chengde Tianyuan Activated Carbon Co., Ltd. has been producing activated carbon in Chengde, China since 2003 as an integrated manufacturer and exporter, with a team of 50 covering production, quality control and export documentation in-house. Our works run on advanced equipment with sufficient capacity to keep repeat orders moving, and we operate to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. We supply our full range of grades worldwide and support OEM work, custom specifications and private-label packing. Send your specification and volume, and we will confirm what we can schedule for you.

FAQ