LIOPHILIC AND SORPTIVE PROPERTIES OF MODIFIED CLINOPTYLOLITE AS A SORBENT FOR WATER PURIFICATION FROM OIL AND OIL PRODUCTS

Abstract

Oil and oil products pose a serious threat to all components of the environment and people. The most effective for cleaning water environments and solid surfaces from oil and oil products are sorption processes using natural and synthetic materials. This study is aimed at studying the sorption properties of natural zeolite of the clinoptilolite type, modified with an ammonium chloride solution with a concentration of 0.1…1.0 mol/dm³. The effect of modification and fractional composition of clinoptilolite on the lyophilic properties with respect to oil, the mass of sorbed oil, the sorption rate in the initial period of the process, and the sorption capacity were studied. It was shown that, unlike the native form of clinoptilolite, modified sorbent samples in the entire size range are well wetted by oil, followed by complete wetting of the surface of the modified zeolite. With an increase in the dispersion of clinoptilolite, the mass of sorbed oil naturally increases. At the same time, the largest increase in the mass of sorbed oil is observed with a decrease in the average particle size of clinoptilolite from 0.375 to 0.175 mm. It was found that during about 200…240 min of the oil sorption process, the sorption capacity of clinoptilolite increases (up to 0.5…0.7 g/g for different samples). However, further, during the next 2500…2600 min, the calculated sorption capacity formally decreases (up to 0.45…0.6, g/g) with a simultaneous increase in the mass of sorbed oil. Such a formal contradiction is due to the fact that the height of the working layer of clinoptilolite, and therefore the mass of zeolite participating in the sorption, is increasingly increasing. At the same time, during the sorption of oil, which is a polycomponent substance, oil is separated into components on clinoptilolite. Lighter fractions move (chromatographed) faster through the sorbent layer than heavier ones. The studies have confirmed the positive effect of modifying clinoptilolite with ammonium chloride solutions on its sorption capacity. The resulting sorbents have prospects for use in water purification technologies, oil spill cleanup on water surfaces and some solid surfaces.