Development of Water Adsorbents Synthesized From Spent Bleaching Earth To Dehydrate Ethanol Water Mixture

摘要

Water adsorbent to dehydrate water ethanol mixture was synthesized from spent bleaching earth (SBE) using modified fusion method. The SBE was regenerated using heat at 750°C. Predetermined alumina, Al2O3 and a stochiometric amount of KOH was added to the regenerated SBE, mixed and fused at several temperatures for 12 hours in a furnace. The fused mixture was grounded and mixed with water to get 40-55% KOH solution in water. This mixture was aged for several pre determined temperature for several pre determined days in a closed container before crystallization took place in 5 part by weight 5% KOH for 48 hours. The product obtained was washed 3 times with distilled water using filtration set and dried in oven at 220°C for 20 hours. Results from Karl Fischer Titration showed that the product was able to absorb water up above 0.0200 g/g adsorbent which was approximately 50% performance of commercial zeolite A. The best conditions for synthesizing the water adsorbent from SBE were : 80 g alumina added per 100 gram kaolin, fused temperature of 650°C, aging temperature of 80°C for 5 days. However, XRD results showed that the synthesized product was not the type of zeolite A.