The effluent gases from industry and processing units contain a large number of pollutants, such as Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur, H2S, and Vapors of CS2, styrene, and several solvents, such as Ethanol or Toluene, AC in different forms (granular, extruded, fiber or cloth) is used for production of pure gases.

Activated Carbon(AC), in the chemical industry is used in different forms (granular, extruded, fibre or cloth) for –

Production of pure gases

To reduce pollutant gases to very low concentrations in a single stage

In protection against poison gases, in air conditioning, for removal of oil from compressed air, etc.

The actual processes, using AC, include hydrogen sulphide removal from sour natural gas, removal of sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides from flue gas, gasoline vapor recovery in gasoline loading facilities, chlorofluorocarbon recovery in foam blowing,removal of mercury vapor from air, hydrogen and other gas streams, cigarette filters.
AC finds its usage in nuclear sector and automotive evaporation control systems too.
MilitaryCarbons impregnated with caustic materials such as KOH, KMO4, H2SO4 and NaOH are widely used to control odours of H2S and organic mercaptans in sewage treatment plants. However, there is a risk of bed self-ignition, likely due to the high heats of reaction. Alternatively, the adsorption capacity for H2S can be improved by impregnating the AC with compounds such as KI or KMn04.