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While both Granular Activated Carbon and Powdered Activated Carbon are equally important, choosing the right particle size depends on various factors.

1. Application
2. Disposal
3. Regeneration
4. Efficiency
5. Equipment / Reactors
6. Handling

Application & Efficiency

For example when it comes to application : GAC is more widely used in Water filtration and PAC is used in food decolorisation . PAC having a high surface area due to natural laws of chemistry : and most PAC being manufactured from wood make it excellent to adsorb the large molecular size of color on food / pharmaceuticals and bulk drugs. On the other GAC is good in water filtration as most GAC is made from Coconut / Coal. Both having good hardness : GAC does not crumble or break under high pressure and flow rate. It also has the ability of being regenerated and used severals times vs PAC. Regeneration of PAC is a challenge.

Disposal & Regeneration

Most GAC can be used several times before regeneration. On the other hand Powdered Activated Carbon ( while there is a possibility of regeneration), regeneration is a challenging operation and normally a high disposal cost is paid

Equipment and Handling

Based on what kind of equipment and handling is required or permitted in the plant : we can choose type of carbon to be used. If filter presses are used and are able to squeeze out the filtrate from the powdered carbon : PAC is preferred else tall reactors to accommodate GAC would be used to avoid Cake formation and high filtration pressure. PAC also has the risk of dusting during operations : hence de-dusting equipment  / dust collectors are required to carry operations with PAC.