Uses of natural zeolite
What is natural zeolite?
Introduction
Zeolites are a family of crystalline aluminosilicate minerals. The first zeolite was described in 1756 by Cronstedt, a Swedish mineralogist who coined the name from two Greek words meaning ‘boiling stones’, referring to the evolution of steam when the rock is heated. About fifty natural zeolites are now known and more than one hundred and fifty have been synthesised for specific applications such as industrial catalysis or as detergent builders. Clinoptilolite is a naturally occurring zeolite, formed by the devitrification of volcanic ash in lake and marine waters millions of years ago. It is the most researched of all zeolites and is widely regarded as the most useful.
In common with other zeolites, clinoptilolite has a cage-like structure consisting of SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedra joined by shared oxygen atoms. The negative charges of the AlO4 units are balanced by the presence of exchangeable cations - notably calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and iron. These ions can be readily displaced by other substances, for example heavy metals and ammonium ions. This phenomenon is known as cation exchange, and it is the very high cation exchange capacity of clinoptilolite which provides many of its very useful properties. Clinoptilolite is also known to be a powerful adsorbent of certain gases, such as hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide.
Being a naturally occurring mineral, the precise composition of clinoptilolite is subject to a degree of variation. However, an approximate empirical formula is (Ca,Fe,K,Mg,Na)3-6Si30Al6O72.24H2O.
The Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Number for clinoptilolite is 12173-10-3.
Source of Clinoptilolite
ZeoCat imports clinoptilolite from a single mine in Manisa-Gördez in Turkey which means there is very little interbatch variation. Our zeolite is 96% pure clinoptilolite and unlike many deposits, it contains very low levels of lead. The rock is crushed, milled and packed at the source prior to shipping. We offer six different particle sizes as standard, and other grades can be provided if sufficient quantity is required. Product is supplied in bulk bags of 1 tonne, or in 20kg sacks.
Applications
The uses of clinoptilolite are extremely diverse, and include:
- Water Treatment
- Wastewater and effluent treatment
- Purification of drinking water
- Swimming Pool Filtration.
- Agriculture and Horticulture
- Animal feed additive
- Treatment of animal slurry
- Removal of ammonia in fish farms
- Manufacture of slow release fertilizers
- Soil amendment
- Plant growth medium
- Industrial uses
- Purification and separation of gases
- Handling and disposal of nuclear waste
- Lightweight construction materials
- Pollution control
- Other uses
- Consumer deodorisers and dehumidifiers
- Pet care
Clinoptilolite from ZeoCat
The following particle sizes are available as standard grades from ZeoCat :
- <150 microns
- 0 to 1mm
- 0.5 to 2mm
- 1 to 3mm
- 3 to 5mm
- 5 to 8mm
Physical properties of ZeoCat natural zeolite :
ZeoCat
Apartado de Correos 34
08460 Santa Maria de Palautordera
Barcelona, Spain
Tel / Fax : (+34) 93 848 2594
E-mail:stevethompson@zeolitanatural.com
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