Synthesis of Zeolite Na-A from Local Kaolin for Bioethanol Purification

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Malaysia has abundant resources of kaolin. Currently, the kaolin industries are not able to attract large companies to mining due to lower price. An alternative method to increase the price of the local kaolin is by converting it to the zeolite. The zeolite of the type Na-A can be used to dehydrate ethanol water mixture during production of bioethanol. In this study,mesoporous silica Na-A zeolite was synthesized from local clay which obtained from Perak. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The raw kaolin was pretreatedby using sodium metaphosphate to remove impurities and activated at 800oC for 5 hours. By using the hydrothermal method, zeolite Na-A was synthesized by using NaOH as the activator. The mesoporous materials obtained were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis. Findings: The prepared materials showed a superior ability to adsorb water (H2O) from azeotrope water-ethanol mixture. From the water adsorption test, the average H2O adsorption capacity was 70mg H2O/g adsorbent. This value was almost twice the adsorption capacity of commercial zeolite 3A. Zeolite Na-A was the main product with quartz presences as minor impurities which was confirmed by XRD, FTIR and SEM analysis. Applications/Improvements: The local kaolin can be used to synthesize the zeolite Na-A by using a hydrothermal reaction method. This new application may increase the value of local kaolin.