Abstract: Smoke contained a great deal of sulfur, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide which are generated during the use of fossil fuels. They could lead to acid rain and green house effect. As an effective adsorbent, activated carbon will play an increasingly important role in desulfurization and denitration. The adsorption properties of activated carbon depend on both pore structure and its surface chemical characteristics. In this paper, mechanism of desulfurization and denitration with activated carbon is introduced, and research status both at home and abroad is reviewed. Moreover, the type and modification of activated carbon are systematically summarized.

Key words: activated carbon, desulfurization, denitration