How is spent carbon reactivated?
Spent carbon is reactivated in the same manner that it is manufactured. In multiple hearth furnaces or rotary kilns, the spent carbon is heated to temperatures above 1,700°F utilizing steam as a selective oxidant. Adsorbed organics are either volatilized or pyrolysed to a carbon char. The high- temperature steam reaction serves to develop the pore volume of the activated carbon and restore its adsorptive capacity.
