Process for producing spherical activated carbon

1. A process for producing spherical activated carbon, comprising the steps of:

crosslinking and condensing a heavy hydrocarbon oil under an elevated pressure by blowing therein an oxidizing gas alone or in mixture with a non-oxidizing gas to provide a starting pitch,

forming the starting pitch into a porous spherical pitch comprising porous spheres of the starting pitch, and

infusibilizing, carbonizing and activating the porous spherical pitch to form a spherical activated carbon;

wherein said starting pitch has a softening point of at least 150° C., a toluene-insoluble content of at least 40% and a property of retaining isotropy even after being subjected to heating at 430° C. for 1 hour; and

wherein the forming step includes suspending and dispersing a molten mixture of the starting pitch with an additive comprising an aromatic compound having a boiling point of at least 200° C. and having two or three rings in hot water to recover a spherical pitch product, and extracting the additive from the spherical pitch product to leave the porous spherical pitch.

2. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the heavy hydrocarbon oil has been obtained as a residue oil by-produced during production of ethylene by decomposition of naphtha.

3. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the starting pitch has a metallic impurity content of at most 500 ppm.

4. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the porous spherical pitch comprises spheres having an average particle size of 0.1-2.0 mm and including pores providing a total pore volume of 0.06-0.20 ml/g for a pore diameter range of 3-10000 nm.

5. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the porous pitch after the infusibilizing comprises spheres having an average particle size of 0.1-2.0 mm and has an oxygen content of 8-25 wt. % as measured by elementary analysis.

6. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the elevated pressure is 0.2-2 MPaG (gauge-pressure).