Activated carbon production and methods therefor

A process for manufacturing activated carbon, comprising, in order, the steps of:

• (a) mixing a powder of carbonaceous source material with an activating agent to form a mixture, wherein the activation agent comprises potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), potassium carbonate (K2CO3), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), phosphoric acid (H3PO4), zinc chloride (ZnCl2), copper chloride (CuCl2) and/or potassium permanganate (KMnO4);
• (b) drying the mixture at a temperature of 20° C. to below 400° C. to result in a dried mixture;
• (c) stirring the mixture repeatedly during step (b);
• (d) heating the dried mixture to 450-1300° C. under an inert atmosphere to result in an activated mixture;
• (e) washing the activated mixture in water to remove some or all of the activating agent;
• (f) washing the activated mixture with citric acid;
• (g) washing the activated mixture with additional water to result in a washed activated mixture;
• and
• (h) drying the washed activated mixture to result in the activated carbon.