Process for producing activated carbon

1. A method of producing activated carbon comprising the steps of:

a) pyrolysing corn derivatives in the presence of an inorganic particulate heat supplying material at a temperature of between about 460° C. to about 560° C. and a weight ratio of the inorganic heat supplying material to the corn derivatives from about 12:1 to about 200:1, for a duration of about 0.03 to about 2 seconds, to produce char, and

b) activating said char using steam at a temperature of between about 500° C. to about 1000° C. and a steam to carbon ratio of about 0.4:1 to about 7:1 for a duration of between about 10 to about 90 minutes, to produce activated carbon.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a pelletization step wherein said char is mixed with a binder selected from the group consisting of starch, molasses, coal tar, natural resin, wood based natural resin, corn based natural resin or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said pyrolysis is performed for a duration of about 0.7 seconds.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said steam is at a temperature of about 800° C. to about 1000° C.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said steam to carbon ratio is about 0.4:1 to about 1.7:1.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said activating comprises a duration of between 30 to about 90 minutes.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said corn derivatives comprise corn kernels, off grade corn kernels, corn cobs, corn fiber, corn hulls, corn stover, corn steep liquor, gluten, starch or any combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said corn derivative comprises a dried mixture of corn steep liquor and corn fiber produced during the wet milling of corn.

9. A method of producing activated carbon comprising the steps of:

a) pyrolysing corn derivatives in the presence of an inorganic particulate heat supplying material at a temperature of between about 350° C. to about 560° C. and a weight ratio of the inorganic heat supplying material to the corn derivatives from about 12:1 to about 200:1, for a duration of about 0.3 seconds to about 2 minutes, to produce char, and

b) activating said char using steam at a temperature of between about 500° C. to about 1000° C. and a steam to carbon ratio of about 0.4:1 to about 7:1 for a duration of between about 10 to about 90 minutes, to produce activated carbon.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said char, activated carbon, or both are acid-washed.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said acid wash comprises soaking in an acidic solution followed by dewetting.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said acidic solution comprises hydrochloric, sulfuric, nitric, acetic, formic or pyroligneous acid solution.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said solution comprises between about 0.2 to about 5% (v/v) acid.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said acid is hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein said dewetting is performed by centrifugation, vacuum drum, filtering or a combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein said acid wash is followed by rinsing with water.