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The Burning Process of Activated CharcoalOnce fire is introduced to wood, it naturally begins to burn. The smoke being produced by the fire is actually the volatile organic compounds evaporating into the atmosphere. Once a fire gets hot enough, these compounds completely vaporize and there is no longer smoke being produced. This is why you will not see smoke coming off burning charcoal and embers. In order to produce charcoal, however, the wood must be heated without the presence of oxygen. In order to achieve this, the wood must be burned at very high temperatures in clay or steel boxes. What’s left behind is carbon – full of the minerals once contained in the wood.
When the Activated Charcoal becomes "activated"A similar product is called coke. Coke is produced from heating coal in the same conditions that wood is heated in to produce charcoal. The smoke given off by this process is also very valuable. This smoke contains chemicals such as formaldehyde and ammonia, as well as coal gas, coal tar and alcohol. After the charcoal is collected from these two processes, it is treated with oxygen to open up its pores. It this point, the charcoal becomes “activated”, and its true absorbent potential is able to be exploited.
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