Quality standards of activated carbon for gas-phase applications have been deleted from the Korean national standard list since 2007, and the iodine adsorption test is the only measure currently used for quality assurance. This study was performed to propose a suitable test method and a quality standard for gas-phase activated carbon. The "1/2 saturated vapor adsorption" test has been developed as a simple and convenient method to determine the adsorption capacity of activated carbon. In this study, the developed test method was evaluated using model VOCs including toluene, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), and ethyl acetate (EA). A virgin activated carbon revealed adsorption capacities of 344mg/g, 322mg/g, and 328mg/g for toluene, EA, and MEK, respectively, and the adsorption capacity for a mixture of the three VOCs was 334 mg/g. When a regenerated activated carbon was applied, the adsorption capacities dramatically decreased to 62 mg/g, 52 mg/g, and 61 mg/ g for toluene, EA, and MEK, respectively. In addition, the 1/2 solvent vapor adsorption tests using 13 different specimens of activated carbon showed that their capacities were closely related to the iodine adsorption numbers, and this study suggested the adsorption capacity of 300 mg/g as a new quality standard. The novel test method and its standard may help to guarantee the quality of gas-phase activated carbon used for VOCs abatement processes.

하수슬러지의 발생량은 꾸준히 증가하고 있으며, 하수슬러지의 해양투기 금지로 인해 대체 처리 방안들이 요구되고 있다. 다양한 하수 슬러지 처리 방안들 중, 하수 슬러지를 이용한 활성탄의 제조는 슬러지를 폐기가 아닌 재이용하는 방안으로 제기되고 있다. 활성탄은 탄소 성분을 이용하여 제조되므로, 하수 슬러지를 이용하여 활성탄을 제조하는 것도 가능하다. 기존의 대기오염제어설비에서 쉽게 제거되지 않는 원소 수은은 활성탄 흡착을 통해 제거될 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 국내 하수처리장에서 발생한 건조슬러지를 이용하여 다양한 물리적 특성을 지닌 활성탄을 제조하였고, 수은 흡착 능력을 평가하였다. 그리고 다른 원료에서 제조된 활성탄과 수은 흡착 결과를 서로 비교하였다.