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Regenerate activated carbon.

Hi all has anybody had any experience of regenerating actvatact carbon out there.

Hi @Martin steele

It is not possible to regenerate activated carbon. Please read the following link. It explains how activated carbon works. The bottom line is that, once it has trapped 'stuff', it is spent. Activated carbon is not like Seachem Purigen, for example, which can be regenerated. Here's the link:

https://www.seachem.com/downloads/articles/A-Primer-Aquarium-Filtration.pdf

Hope this helps.

JPC
 
You’re welcome. The biggest problem with activated carbon is that it’s very difficult to judge when it’s no longer effective.
 
Hi all,
The biggest problem with activated carbon is that it’s very difficult to judge when it’s no longer effective.
That is the issue with all ion exchange resins, active substrates etc.

You don't know when they are exhausted, so you have to change them on a regular basis. It is slightly different with a RO or a DI resin, because it has removed all the ions and you can use a rise in conductivity to indicate that the resin is exhausted or you are getting bypass around the RO membrane.

It was one of the reasons why we started using a <"duckweed bioassay with the landfill leachate">, there are issues with it <"fouling of electrodes and resins">, but Lemna it gives a visual indication, and it is a pretty robust plant (and technique).

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,
Hi @Martin steele The methylene blue test that you mention does what exactly?JPC
It is used to estimate the CEC capacity of clays or the <"porosity of activated carbon">.

I'd never heard of it in the <"clay context"> until really recently, but we are looking at a project at a sand pit in Dorset and the issue there is that both Sand Lizards and the sand extractor like sand without any clay in it.

The carbon reference you want is: <" ESTIMATION OF SURFACE AREA AND PORE VOLUME OF ACTIVATED CARBONS BY METHYLENE BLUE AND IODINE NUMBERS ">.

cheers Darrel
 
IMG_20200325_115523.jpg
Hi I added some methylene blue 5 drops total to equal amounts of water then added equal quantities of new and regenerated carbon.

The results show that the regenerated carbon is still active.

Please see attached pictures the glass on the left is treated and the one on the right is untreated.
Im not saying that this will work but it's worth a play.

Fire purifies.
If you want to give it a go please feel free I will post you the methodology.

Regards Martin steele
 
If you keep adding methylene blue, counting the drops, until the carbon cannot adsorb any more, comparing the number of drops each sample takes will show you how effective the regenerated carbon is, compared to the new.
 
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