Development of Activated carbon fiber (ACF) air purification technology

Activated carbon fibers (ACFs), products of the Osaka Gas group, have a fiber diameter of 10 to 20 urn, where micropores of 1 to 2 nm on the surface are responsible for their adsorption rate which is more than 10 times that of granular activated carbon. They are also easy to mold. We have developed a technology to use the ACFs for air purification systems at the roadside. In particular, we have developed a parallel flow structure unit to efficiently remove nitrogen oxide (NOx) from polluted air using only natural wind and no electric power. The ACFs convert the NOx into nitrate ions (NOf) by oxidation and can be regenerated by washing with water, leading to a long service life of the ACFs. These technologies can be applied to economical air pollution control on roads with heavy traffic where there are high NOx concentrations.