Why is the higher the iodine value of activated carbon, the more expensive it is?
introduction
Why is the iodine value of activated carbon different and the price difference so large? Is this question also troubling you. Iodine value, as a key indicator for measuring the adsorption capacity of activated carbon, directly affects its market pricing. Why is high iodine value activated carbon expensive despite its excellent performance? Numerical activated carbon will be thoroughly explored, from raw materials to production processes, to comprehensively analyze the impact of iodine value on prices, helping you solve this puzzle. Whether you are an industry practitioner or interested in activated carbon, this article will provide you with detailed answers.
1、 The impact of raw materials
Firstly, the price of activated carbon is closely related to its raw materials. Activated carbon is mainly divided into coal based activated carbon, wood based activated carbon, and coconut shell activated carbon. The significant price differences of different types of raw materials directly affect the cost of activated carbon.
Coal based activated carbon: Commonly used raw materials include bituminous coal, anthracite, and lignite. These types of raw materials have relatively low prices, but strict process control is required during the production process to achieve high iodine values.
Wooden activated carbon: The raw materials mainly include wood chips, walnut shells, apricot shells, etc. The production cost of wooden activated carbon is relatively high because the price of wooden raw materials is expensive and requires complex production processes.
Coconut shell activated carbon: Coconut shell is a high-quality raw material for producing high iodine value activated carbon. Coconut shell activated carbon has high mechanical strength and excellent adsorption performance, but its raw material cost is high and the production process requirements are strict.
2、 The utilization efficiency of raw materials in the production process
Why is the price difference of activated carbon with different iodine values so significant under the same raw material conditions, such as anthracite? This is because activated carbon with different iodine values requires different amounts of raw materials and process costs in the production process.
Coal based activated carbon with an iodine value of 800 requires approximately 2.5 tons of anthracite or bituminous coal (2.5:1) to produce one ton of finished product.
Coal based activated carbon with an iodine value of 1000: producing one ton of finished product requires about 3 tons or more of anthracite or bituminous coal (3:1).
The carbonization and activation processes can lead to significant quality loss of the raw materials, typically resulting in a product quality of about 50-70% of the raw material quality after carbonization. During further activation, the quality will continue to decrease. Therefore, producing high iodine value activated carbon requires more raw materials, which is an important reason for its higher price.
3、 The influence of iodine value on adsorption capacity
Iodine value is one of the important indicators for measuring the adsorption capacity of activated carbon. The higher the iodine value, the better the adsorption performance of activated carbon and the more developed the microporous structure.
Adsorption capacity: Activated carbon with high iodine value has stronger adsorption capacity and can adsorb more harmful substances, thus having better effects in fields such as water treatment and air purification.
Micro porous structure: Activated carbon with high iodine value has a more developed micro porous structure, which can provide more adsorption sites and improve adsorption efficiency.
4、 Production requirements for high iodine value activated carbon
The production of high iodine value activated carbon requires stricter process control and more raw materials. In order to achieve higher iodine value standards, every step in the production process needs to be precisely controlled:
Carbonization process: Temperature, time and other parameters need to be controlled during the carbonization process to ensure that the raw materials are converted into carbonized materials with high porosity.
Activation process: Activation is a crucial step in forming microporous structures, requiring precise control of activation temperature, time, and concentration of activators. The optimization of these conditions helps to form more pore structures, thereby improving the adsorption capacity of activated carbon.
These strict process requirements not only increase production difficulty, but also raise production costs.
5、 Increased demand for raw materials
In order to increase the iodine value of activated carbon, the demand for raw materials for producing high iodine value activated carbon has also increased accordingly. During the process of pore formation, new pores will form and some pores may collapse. Therefore, in order to achieve higher iodine value standards, more raw materials need to be used to compensate for these losses. This further increases production costs, making the price of high iodine value activated carbon relatively high.
6、 Market demand and supply
High iodine value activated carbon has a high demand in the market due to its superior performance. However, the difficulty and cost of producing high iodine value activated carbon make its supply relatively limited. The market supply and demand relationship has further pushed up the price of high iodine value activated carbon.
7、 Conclusion
In summary, the higher the iodine value of activated carbon, the more expensive the price is mainly due to the selection of raw materials, the conversion rate of raw materials in the production process, strict process control, and market supply and demand relationships. High iodine value activated carbon has important applications in many key fields due to its superior adsorption performance. Although its production cost is high, its irreplaceable advantages in fields such as water treatment, air purification, food, and medicine make high iodine value activated carbon highly favored in the market.