Zeolites as alcohol adsorbents from aqueous solutions

Abstract

The potential usage of zeolites as adsorbents for the removal of organic molecules from water was investigated in a series of experiments with aqueous solutions of lower alcohols. This could represent a simple solution to the problem of cleaning up industrial wastewater as well as recovering valuable chemicals at relatively low costs. Adsorption isotherms of the Langmuir type were applied, and calculations showed that the amount of propanol adsorbed on silicalite corresponded to approximately 70% of the pore volume. The adsorption process is simple, and recovery of the more concentrated products is easily done by heat treatment and/or at lowered pressures. Adsorption experiments with aqueous acetone showed that silicalite had approximately the same adsorption capacity for acetone as for n-propanol. Heats of adsorption were determined calorimetrically.U seriji eksperimenata sa vodenim rastvorima nizih alkohola ispitivali smo mogucu upotrebu zeolita kao adsorbenata za odstranjivanje organskih molekula iz vode. Ovo moze da predstavlja jednostavno resenje problema preciscavanja industrijskih otpadnih voda, kao i dobijanje vrednih hemikalija po niskim cenama. Primenjene su adsorpcione izoterme Lapgmuirovog tipa. Proracuni su pokazali da adsorbovana kolicina propanola od strane silikalita odgovara priblizno 70 % volumena pora. Adsorpcioni proces je jednostavan, a koncentrisani proizvodi se lako izdvajaju termickom obradom i/ili pri snizenim pritiscima. Adsorpcioni eksperimenti vodenih rastvora acetona, pokazali su da silikalit ima priblizno isti adsorpcioni kapacitet za aceton kao i za n-propanol. Toplota adsorpcije je odredjena kalorimetrijski.