A review about microwave regeneration technology of waste activated carbon

Abstract

Activated carbon (AC) can concentrate and transfer pollutants using its own adsorption capacity. Waste AC is a kind of solid waste, its adsorption capacity of pollutants is greatly reduced after adsorption saturation. If handled improperly, it will cause secondary pollution to the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to regenerate the waste AC to restore its adsorption performance and reduce environmental pollution and resource waste. Microwave regeneration technology is of great research value because of its low energy consumption, time saving and high efficiency. Based on the characteristics of microwave heating and regeneration mechanism, this paper summarizes the advantages of microwave regeneration compared with conventional heating regeneration, and the application status of microwave technology in the regeneration of waste AC was reviewed. The influence of different types of pollutants adsorbed by AC, the change of control conditions for microwave regeneration of AC and the characteristics of AC itself on microwave regeneration were briefly described. And the development direction of microwave regeneration of AC in the future is also prospected.