Activated carbon is carbon treated to become extremely porous. A single gram can have an internal surface area equivalent to that of a football field, folded into millions of microscopic cavities.
When a liquid or gas passes through this labyrinth, certain molecules adhere to its walls and are retained. This phenomenon is called adsorption, and it is selective: the material can adjust to capture some molecules and allow others to pass through.
Sometimes what is retained is something we want to remove: chlorine, pesticides, compounds that affect taste and smell, solvent vapors. Other times it is exactly the opposite—in mining, activated carbon is used to capture gold dissolved in the solution so it can be recovered, and in the chemical industry, it is used to recover solvents and return them to the process instead of losing them.
It works the same way with liquids and gases. It is the same technology found inside a household water filter or a vapor filter mask, but on an industrial scale: columns several meters high through which thousands of liters per hour pass.
Emissions control: Captures volatile organic compounds, solvent vapors, and odors before they are released into the atmosphere. This environmental control equipment is used in industries such as paint manufacturing, chemical plants, wastewater treatment plants, and landfills.
Biogas and natural gas purification: Removes sulfur compounds that damage downstream equipment.
Chile consumes activated carbon in all these industries and today imports it almost entirely from abroad.
It’s a Chilean company that will develop and operate an activated carbon production plant in Curanilahue, Arauco Province. The team has experience in process engineering, industrial operations, and project development.
We chose Curanilahue for specific reasons. The raw material is available in the province, and it has good connectivity that allows us to supply the rest of the country.
But there’s a third reason, which is a conscious decision, not just an advantage: we want this project to generate employment in Curanilahue and the Arauco Province. There’s an industrial tradition and a skilled trade here that didn’t disappear with the mine closures, and we believe that a new industry should be built with the people of the region where it’s located.
Our raw material is coal from the Arauco province coal basin. The same resource that sustained the economy of this region for over a century is now used to create a higher-value product for a different purpose: instead of being burned to generate energy, it is transformed into a material that purifies water and traps gases.
We work with a defined and documented origin. Every batch that leaves the plant has a certificate of analysis and a record of origin.
Curanilahue thrived on coal for over a century. The mine closures left behind an economy still searching for a replacement and a skilled workforce with industrial expertise that continues to live here.
Establishing our business in this town is a strategic decision: the resources, the people, and the connectivity are all in the same place. We want the transformation of the Arauco province to include a productive component.
It’s coal filled with microscopic holes. That’s essentially it. We start with the same mineral coal that has always been mined in this area. We treat it until it’s riddled with tiny cavities: so small you can’t see them even with a magnifying glass, and so numerous that a spoonful of this material has an internal surface area the size of several tennis courts.
And what are so many holes for? To retain things. When water or air passes through, many of the substances they carry stick to these walls, and the water or air comes out clean on the other side. This is called adsorption: the particles don’t dissolve or disappear; they adhere to the surface of the coal and stay there.
You probably already use it without knowing it:
It’s the black material inside kitchen water filters.
It’s what’s in masks that protect against fumes and strong odors.
It’s the same material you put in your refrigerator to eliminate odors. And importantly: it’s still charcoal, not a chemical. It doesn’t dissolve in water or add anything to it. It simply retains moisture.
No. BioActivo is not a power plant and does not produce energy for the grid.
What we do is transform coal into a different material. Through controlled heat treatment, its porous structure—those millions of microscopic cavities—is developed to obtain activated carbon, a product capable of capturing and separating molecules.
The difference lies in the purpose. A thermoelectric plant uses coal as fuel: it consumes it to obtain heat and convert it into electricity. Here, coal is the raw material for a product that is sold, installed in filters, and at the end of its useful life can be reactivated and reused.
Put simply: in Curanilahue, coal would cease to be fuel and become a product.
Like any industrial facility, the plant will have emissions, and these will be regulated and controlled.
During the process, compounds naturally present in the coal’s structure are released. These gases are not released directly into the environment: they pass through a series of abatement equipment designed to retain and treat them before any discharge into the atmosphere.
According to our plan, construction should begin in 2029.
This may seem far off, and there’s a reason: we prefer to do each step properly. Before moving a single machine, we want the engineering completed, the environmental permitting process finalized, and the project discussed with the community.
Industrial projects rushed through these stages often end up with problems that the region ultimately pays for. The date is an estimate and depends on environmental approval. Any changes will be posted on the timeline on this page.
Activated carbon: a material that separates molecules, with three main applications.
In water. In drinking water plants and rural drinking water systems, it removes chlorine, pesticides, traces of organic compounds, and substances that give water unpleasant taste and odor. This makes treated water not only safe but also pleasant to drink. In industrial wastewater, it is used as a final polishing step before the water is released back into the environment or reused, capturing the organic load that biological treatments cannot break down.
In air and gases. It is used in emissions control equipment: it retains solvent vapors, volatile organic compounds, and odors before they are released into the atmosphere. In biogas and natural gas, it removes sulfur compounds that damage engines and turbines. A significant portion of this product is used, in practice, to help other industries reduce their emissions.
In production processes. In mining, it captures dissolved gold in the solution for recovery. In food and beverages, it decolorizes and purifies sugar, oils, juices, and distilled spirits. In chemistry and pharmaceuticals, it purifies intermediate products.
Two things worth knowing: it’s not a one-size-fits-all product—the grain size and degree of activation vary depending on the application—and it’s not disposable: saturated activated carbon can be reactivated and reused multiple times.
Our contact form, accessible via the banner on this page, is available for any inquiries.
We respond to all inquiries from residents, organizations, and local authorities.
You can also write directly to contacto@grupobioactivo.com
Respondemos todas las consultas de empresas, vecinos, organizaciones y autoridades. También puedes escribir directamente a
(+56) 9 4876 4575
contacto@grupobioactivo.com
(+56) 9 4876 4575
contacto@grupobioactivo.com
