Zeolitic material synthesised from fly ash: use as cationic exchanger

Abstract

Abstract The potential use as a ‘once through’ cation exchanger of a zeolitic material (NaP1 zeolite as the main active component) synthesised from fly ash has been evaluated and compared with a commercial weak acid exchanger, Amberlite IRC‐50. The cationic exchange has been tested for different cations present in sewage: NH 4 + (urban sewage) and Pb 2+ , Zn 2+ and Cr 3+ (waste from electrolytic baths). The NH 4 + retention capacity was higher in the zeolite (0.7 meq g −1 ) than in Amberlite IRC‐50 (0.21 meq g −1 ). The retention capacities of metallic cations obtained for NaP1 zeolite (1.16 meq Pb 2+ g −1 , 1.45 meq Zn 2+ g −1 and 1.57 meq Cr 3+ g −1 ) were also higher than in Amberlite IRC‐50 (0.32 meq Pb 2+ g −1 , 0.25 meq Zn 2+ g −1 and 0.35 meq Cr 3+ g −1 ). When solutions containing all the metallic cations were used, lower retention capacities were obtained for both exchangers. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry