VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2
MARCH/APRIL 1997
© Copyright 1997 American Chemical Society
Symposium Symposium on Production and Use of Carbon-Based Materials for Environmental Cleanup: An Introduction The Division of Fuel Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS) recently sponsored a first-ofits-kind symposium on the Production and Use of Carbon-Based Materials for Environmental Cleanup. A total of 54 papers were presented in seven sessions at the 211th ACS National Meeting held in New Orleans, LA, on March 24-28, 1996. The sessions covered the Preparation and Characterization of Activated Carbon, NOx Reduction, Activated Carbon Fibers, and a wide range of Vapor and Liquid Phase Applications. It was the largest symposium ever assembled by the ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry (probably more a direct result of the present-day interest in carbon materials and the environment than the efforts of the organizers). The symposium highlighted new uses for the more traditional coal-based activated carbons as well as the newer and more novel forms of carbon such as carbon fibers derived from coal, petroleum, and polymeric materials; membranes; carbon blacks; and aerogels. What better material than carbon to rid our environment of the hazardous chemicals and impurities that pollute the air we breathe and water we drink? One can adjust the surface chemistry and pore size of activated carbon to tackle almost any environmental problem known to mankind. The types of papers presented at this symposium reflect the myriad uses of porous carbon in a wide range of environmental cleanup applications. Activated carbon has been around for a long time, but it is only in the past 10-15 years that research on this amazing material in catalysis and other nontraditional applications has grown exponentially. It is our hope that our colleagues in industry can take advantage of the research presented at the symposium and in this special section of Energy & Fuels to develop new and improved products designed to solve the traditional as well as more pressing environmental problems of our day. A symposium such as this is one way to begin the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the “real world”. This special section of Energy & Fuels features 16 outstanding papers presented at the New Orleans symposium. The first six papers cover the production and use of activated carbon from coal and activated carbon fiber for removal of SO2, NOx, Hg, dioxins, and furans from coal combustion and incinerator flue gas. Four of these papers deal specifically with the removal of SO2 from flue gas and its conversion to H2SO4. The S0887-0624(97)00017-0 CCC: $14.00
last paper in the group, which received the 1996 Glenn Award from the ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, proposes a new and improved mechanism for SO2 removal by carbon. Papers in the next group address the important issue of decreasing NOx emissions from coal-burning plants and other stationary combustion sources. Each of these three papers proposes different and novel carbons and methods to accomplish this feat, ranging from the use of reductants such as ammonia and hydrocarbons to the use of potassium-loaded, coalbased carbon to reduce NOx to harmless gases (N2, CO2, H2O). The next paper describes the use of chemically modified activated carbon fiber to remove highly toxic low-level concentrations of volatile organic compounds from humid indoor air environments. Another paper describes the production and use of carbons from bituminous coal and scrap tires to efficiently adsorb methane for adsorbed natural gas vehicles. The next group of papers focuses on the use of carbon to remove toxic metals from our water supplies. The materials studied were as varied as they were novel, e.g., lignite coal itself to attract heavy metals and low-level radioactive waste, coal chars impregnated with organometallics to increase all-important mesoporosity, and activated carbon fibers. The last two papers utilize three very different types of carbon (aerogels graphite) and the principles of electrochemistry to achieve enhanced removal of metallic ions from aqueous solution. It is our hope that this type of symposium makes us more aware of our environment and how carbon derived from coal and other carbonaceous precursors can be used to remediate many types of pollution to our environment. The interest generated by this symposium only makes us want to do it all again. A followup symposium to this one will be held at the National Meeting of the ACS in Boston, Aug 1998. All are invited! Anthony A. Lizzio* Illinois State Geological Survey 615 East Peabody Drive Champaign, Illinois 61820 Nicholas R. Pollack Calgon Carbon Corporation P.O. Box 717 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230 EF970017B © 1997 American Chemical Society
