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UTILITY OF ZEOLITES IN REMOVAL OF INORGANIC AND ORGANIC WATER POLLUTANTS
Citation:
Shevade, S., R Ford*, P. M. Kaiser*, AND J T. Wilson*. UTILITY OF ZEOLITES IN REMOVAL OF INORGANIC AND ORGANIC WATER POLLUTANTS. Presented at Clay Minerals Society 40th Annual Meeting, Athens, GA, June 07 - 12, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Zeolites are well known for their ion exchange, adsorption and acid catalysis properties. Different inorganic and organic pollutants have been removed from water at room temperature using various zeolites. Synthetic zeolite Faujasite Y has been used to remove inorganic pollutants including arsenic, cadmium and lead from water in continuous flow reactions below EPA's maximum contamination limits. Successful removal of the gasoline additive MTBE has also been achieved using zeolite ZSM-5 below EPA's advisory limit. Mixtures of these zeolites have been tested for complex matrix of the water pollutants. The zeolites showed a very good pollutant removal capacity with contact time less than 1 min. The pollutant removal capacity of the zeolites has been examined over a wide pH range. The apparent removal mechanisms for the various contaminants include cation and ligand exchange for the inorganic contaminants and acid-catalyzed hydrolysis for the organic contaminant.