MAKING DISCRETE SOLID PARTICLES OF POLYMERIC MATERIAL

A process is provided for producing discrete solid beads of polymeric mat erial e.g. phenolic resin having a mesoporous structure, which process may p roduce resin beads on an industrial scale without aggregates of resin buildi ng up speedily and interrupting production. The process comprises the steps of: (a) combining a stream of a polymerizable liquid precursor e.g. a novola c and hexamine as cross-linking agent dissolved in a first polar organic liq uid e.g. ethylene glycol with a stream of a liquid suspension medium which i s a second non-polar organic liquid with which the liquid precursor is subst antially or completely immiscible e.g. transformer oil containing a drying o il; (b) mixing the combined stream to disperse the polymerizable liquid prec ursor as droplets in the suspension medium e.g. using an in-line static mixe r; (c) allowing the droplets to polymerise in a laminar flow of the suspensi on medium so as to form discrete solid beads that cannot agglomerate; and (d ) recovering the beads from the suspension medium. Also provided is an appar atus for forming discrete solid beads of polymeric material. In other embodi ments, a method is provided for carbonizing and activating carbonaceous mate rial, and an externally fired rotary kiln for carbonizing and activating car bonaceous material.