clay and sulfuric-acid

In the present study, the catalytic dehydration of ethanol to obtain ethylene over montmorillonite clays (MMT) with mineral acid activation including H2SO4 (SA-MMT), HCl (HA-MMT) and HNO3 (NA-MMT) was investigated at temperature range of 200 to 400°C. It revealed that HA-MMT exhibited the highest catalytic activity. Ethanol conversion and ethylene selectivity were found to increase with increased reaction temperature. At 400°C, the HA-MMT yielded 82% of ethanol conversion having 78% of ethylene yield. At lower temperature (i.e. 200 to 300°C), diethyl ether (DEE) was a major product. The highest activity obtained from HA-MMT can be attributed to an increase of weak acid sites and acid density by the activation of MMT with HCl. It can be also proven by various characterization techniques that in most case, the main structure of MMT did not alter by acid activation (excepted for NA-MMT). Upon the stability test for 72 h during the reaction, the MMT and HA-MMT showed only slight deactivation due to carbon deposition. Hence, the acid activation of MMT by HCl is promising to enhance the catalytic dehydration of ethanol.

Topics: Aluminum Silicates; Bentonite; Catalysis; Clay; Desiccation; Drug Stability; Ethanol; Ethylenes; Hot Temperature; Hydrochloric Acid; Nitric Acid; Sulfuric Acids; Time Factors

Tunisian acid activated clay was investigated as catalyst in the esterification of stearic acid with ethyl alcohol, carried out in a semi-continuous reactor. Kinetic study shows that the reaction is first order with respect to acid concentration. The activation energy found was 21 kJ/mol. This result suggests that the reaction process was controlled by a diffusional step. A kinetic model, giving the apparent constant rate as a function of temperature and catalyst concentration, has been established. This equation has been then successfully applied for a complex mixture of fatty acid.

Topics: Aluminum Silicates; Catalysis; Clay; Esters; Ethanol; Kinetics; Stearic Acids; Sulfuric Acids; Tunisia

Modified kaolin clays were used as adsorbents for SO(2) gas adsorptions. The clays were heated up to 900 °C previous to acid treatments with 0.5 N sulfuric acid solutions at boiling temperature during different times up to 1440 min. Equilibrium adsorption at 25 °C and 0.1 MPa was carried out by using a volumetric apparatus. The samples were characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction and infrared analysis. The heating of the clays followed by acid treatment improved the adsorption capacity of the kaolin clays. The presence of amorphous silica and hydroxyl in the final products improved SO(2) adsorption capacity. Better properties for SO(2) adsorption were found in kaolin rich in not well ordered kaolinite clay mineral.

Topics: Adsorption; Aluminum Silicates; Clay; Environmental Pollutants; Heating; Hot Temperature; Kaolin; Silicon Dioxide; Solutions; Sulfur Dioxide; Sulfuric Acids; Waste Management

The adsorption of Pb(2+) ions onto Tunisian clay in aqueous solution was studied in a batch system. Four samples of clay (RGC, RRC, AGC, and ARC) were used. The raw RGC and RRC clays were sampled in jebel Tejera-Esghira in Medenine area (Southeast of Tunisia). AGC and ARC corresponds respectively to RGC and RRC activated by 6M sulphuric acid. The adsorbents employed were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction, chemical analysis, and the specific surface area was also estimated. The ability of clay samples to remove Pb(2+) ions from aqueous solutions has been studied at different operating conditions: temperature and pH. The optimum pH for lead ions retention was found 7.0 for the four clay samples. The effect of temperature on adsorption phenomenon was also investigated. The results indicated that adsorption is an exothermic process for lead ions removal. The equilibrium adsorption data were analysed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The adsorption capacities (X(m)) for RRC, RGC, ARC and AGC were found 17.84, 25.44, 27.15 and 40.75 mg g(-1), respectively. The performance of the red clay after activation was compared to that of silica gel, which has maximum adsorption of 20 mg g(-1). On the other hand, although the performance of activated carbon (88.3 mg g(-1)) is by far higher than that of the green clay after activation, the latter seems to have better performance than that of the silica gel.

Topics: Acids; Adsorption; Aluminum Silicates; Clay; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Lead; Solutions; Sulfuric Acids; Temperature; Thermodynamics; Water; X-Ray Diffraction

The Electrokinetic-Fenton (EK-Fenton) process is a powerful technology to remediate organic-contaminated soil. The behavior of salts and acids introduced for the pH control has significant influence on the H(2)O(2) stabilization and destruction of organic contaminants. In this study, the effects of the type and concentration of acids, which were introduced at the anode, were investigated for the treatment of clayey soil contaminated with phenanthrene. In experiments with H(2)SO(4) as the anode solution, H(2)O(2) concentration in the anode reservoir decreased due to reaction between reduced species of sulfate and H(2)O(2), as time elapsed. By contrast, HCl as an electrolyte in the anode reservoir did not decrease the H(2)O(2) concentration in the anode reservoir. The reaction between the reduced species of sulfate and H(2)O(2) hindered the stabilization of H(2)O(2) in the soil and anode reservoir. In experiments with HCl for pH control, Cl(.), and Cl(2)(. -), which could be generated with mineral catalyzed Fenton-like reaction, did not significantly hinder H(2)O(2) stabilization. H(2)O(2) transportation with electro-osmotic flow and mineral catalyzed Fenton-like reaction on the soil surface resulted in the simultaneous transport and degradation of phenanthrene, which are dependent of the advancement rate of the acid front and electro-osmotic flow toward the cathode according to HCl and H(2)SO(4) concentrations in the anode purging solution.

Topics: Aluminum Silicates; Clay; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Environmental Restoration and Remediation; Hydrochloric Acid; Hydrogen Peroxide; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Iron; Osmosis; Phenanthrenes; Soil Pollutants; Solutions; Sulfuric Acids; X-Ray Diffraction

The structural modifications and the Bronsted acid sites generated during the acid treatment of montmorillonite clay with varied concentration of sulphuric acid was determined using FT-IR spectroscopy. Octahedral sheet is affected at low acid concentration resulting into the dissolution of cations; among them Mg2+ cations are prone to dissolve than Fe2+/3+ and Al3+. Tetrahedral sheet is affected at higher acid concentration. The partial substitution of octahedral Al3+ by Mg2+ or Fe2+/3+ cations and the presence of other non-smectite minerals such as kaolinites was also been clearly identified, thus making FT-IR spectroscopy as a rapid technique for monitoring the structural features of montmorillonite clay.

Topics: Aluminum Silicates; Bentonite; Clay; Silicates; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Sulfuric Acids

Two clays of the areas of Kaélé and Kousseri (extreme North Cameroon) containing mainly smectites and minor amounts of kaolinite were activated with sulfuric acid (1 to 8 N). Crystal-chemical properties were studied using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and chemical analysis, while textural properties were analyzed by step-by-step nitrogen adsorption at 77 K and low-pressure quasi-equilibrium argon adsorption at 77 K. As is generally observed, smectite is more sensitive to acid leaching than kaolinite. As a result of smectite decomposition, amorphous Al-containing silica forms, leading to an increase in the specific surface area of the leached materials. The content of the clay minerals and amorphous silica can be estimated on the basis of changes in the chemical composition of the samples upon acid leaching. As far as adsorption energy distributions derived from low-pressure argon derivative adsorption isotherms are concerned, the main modifications occur when 1 N sulfuric acid is used, due to the replacement of calcium and sodium compensating cations by protons. When higher acid concentrations are used, variations in adsorption energy distribution can be assigned to the presence of amorphous silica. It was possible to model experimental adsorption energy distributions as weighted sums of argon adsorption energy distributions obtained on (i) 1 N samples representing protonated clays and (ii) a silica gel used as a reference aluminous silica. Using such an approach, increasing acid concentration results in an increase in the surface area of silica, whereas the surface area of the remaining clay minerals remains roughly constant.

Topics: Adsorption; Aluminum Silicates; Clay; Crystallization; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Kaolin; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Particle Size; Sensitivity and Specificity; Silicon Dioxide; Spectrophotometry, Infrared; Sulfuric Acids; Surface Properties; X-Ray Diffraction

Chitosan is a well-known excellent adsorbent for a number of organics and metal ions, but its mechanical properties and specific gravity should be enhanced for practical operation. In this study, activated clay was added in chitosan slurry to prepare composite beads. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of two organic acids (tannic acid, humic acid) and two dyes (methylene blue, reactive dye RR222) using composite beads, activated clay, and chitosan beads were compared. With composite beads as an adsorbent, all the isotherms were better fitted by the Freundlich equation. The adsorption capacities with composite beads were generally comparable to those with chitosan beads but much larger than those with activated clay. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equations were then screened to describe the adsorption processes. It was shown that the adsorption of larger molecules such as tannic acid (MW, 1700 g mol(-1)), humic acid, and RR222 from water onto composite beads was better described by the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The rate parameters of the intraparticle diffusion model for adsorption onto such adsorbents were also evaluated and compared to identify the adsorption mechanisms.

Topics: Adsorption; Algorithms; Aluminum Silicates; Chitosan; Clay; Coloring Agents; Hot Temperature; Humic Substances; Kinetics; Methylene Blue; Sulfuric Acids; Tannins; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Purification