Powdered Activated Carbon

Fine Powder for Direct Slurry Contact

SorbiTech Powdered Activated Carbon, or PAC, is a fine carbon powder produced from selected wood, coal, or coconut precursors. The particle size below 75 microns gives a very high external surface area, which translates into fast mass transfer kinetics under direct contact with the water or process liquid.

PAC is not used in a fixed bed. The powder is dosed as a slurry into the contact tank or pipeline, given a few minutes of mixing to load the contaminant, then removed downstream by a coagulation, sedimentation, or membrane filtration step.

Drinking Water Response to Spikes

PAC is the standard utility response to a sudden taste and odour event, a pesticide spike from agricultural run off, or an algal bloom that releases geosmin and 2 methyl isoborneol into the source water. The utility holds a stock of SorbiTech PAC, dosing equipment, and a written response procedure; the dose is started within hours of the event detection and the treated water continues to meet the regulated taste and odour parameters.

PAC also serves as a continuous treatment where the contaminant load is low and a fixed bed would be uneconomic, and as the polishing step in conjunction with granular carbon for the worst case events.

Sugar, Pharmaceutical, and Process Decolorization

In the sugar industry the SorbiTech PAC removes the colour bodies generated during cane and beet processing, lifting the final product to the contracted ICUMSA colour grade. In pharmaceutical manufacturing, USP and EP grade PAC purifies active ingredients and excipients by removing trace impurities, colour, and pyrogens.

Both duties exploit the same fast slurry contact: load the powder, mix, hold, then filter. The recovered powder carries the captured contaminant and is sent to single use disposal under the food or pharmaceutical waste classification.

Grade Selection by Decolorization Test

PAC grade selection is driven by laboratory decolorization tests on the actual stream, not by the iodine number alone. The standard test loads the stream with increasing doses of carbon, measures the residual colour or contaminant, and identifies the dose that achieves the target. SorbiTech runs the test in the SorbiTech laboratory and recommends the matching grade with full backup data.

Forms and Supply

Manufactured to ISO 9001:2015 in food and pharmaceutical grades, with a certificate of analysis per lot covering iodine, methylene blue, decolorization, moisture, and ash. Standard packaging is 25 kg bags; sterilised packaging is available for pharmaceutical and infant nutrition duty. PAC supports SorbiTech response to taste, odour, and pesticide spikes in drinking water treatment and decolorization in the food and beverage sector; see the parent activated carbon family.