Making your own activated charcoal?

[DIYhooch]

In my ongoing quest to be as self sufficient as possible I have been looking into making my own activated charcoal (following a bit of success I had using it to filter my wash and then my stripping run, to yield a much cleaner neutral spirit which is my ultimate goal), so far i have just been buying it from a store but it is getting expensive now that I filter the wash.

Anyhow was wondering if anyone has experimented with doing this?

From what I understand if you heat hardwood (which I have a fair bit of lying around) in what is basically a still it will eventually turn into activated charcoal after going through a series of stages boiling off the water, releasing volatile gases etc.

I have an old 30L stainless steel boiler that I no longer use and was thinking about using this to test, but was hoping someone on here has some experience with doing this.

Thanks

[Dnderhead]

you will be making charcoal not activated carbon.
activated carbon is made from coal,coconut shells and some others,
it is "cooked" at 600-900c in inert gas then steamed.
there is also a chemical proses that uses acids.

[maheel]

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Charcoal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHI ... ARCOAL.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

looks pretty easy as long as the neighbors dont mind the smoke etc
the top link shows some guys using big (and small) paint cans
2nd link is 44 gallon drums

is all charcoal "activated" ?

edit: beaten like the submissive i am

[ammo man]

This is NOT activated charcoal, but my response on this thread gives one way to make "ageing" charcoal.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=16921

Bert

[DIYhooch]

it is "cooked" at 600-900c in inert gas then steamed.

Yeah after a bit of searching and reading activated carbon can only be made as Dnderhead has said above, now that I understand the process buying the stuff doesn't seem as expensive lol.

Thanks for the replies.

[kubota]

Don't throw ya used carbon away, there is plenty of information about cleaning it and reusing.
Mates i have do it all the time, simple as cooking out the volatiles or boiling them out and then reheating in an oven to activate again.
Don't do it myself but apparently works well.

[Dnderhead]

"" information about cleaning it and reusing""
I dont use it either,but from what Iv read each time it is used /reactivated it looses some efficiency.
so maybe use it as a prefilter.

[blind drunk]

Don't throw ya used carbon away, there is plenty of information about cleaning it and reusing.
Mates i have do it all the time, simple as cooking out the volatiles or boiling them out and then reheating in an oven to activate again.

Safety note - a while back a member mentioned that, while drying his activated carbon, it caught fire because of the alcohol still in it. Can't fine the thread or I'd link it.

[Bagasso]

Safety note - a while back a member mentioned that, while drying his activated carbon, it caught fire because of the alcohol still in it. Can't fine the thread or I'd link it.

You should let it dry out first. This means any etho in it will have evaporated before heating. Good to evap the water as well which will have it heat up quicker since you don't have to drive the water off before it can climb above 100ºC.