Oszkar Libor

Equilibrium and capacity data of clinoptilolite

Abstract The equilibrium and capacity data of natural clinoptilolite and clinoptilolite treated with sodium hydroxide were investigated. It was shown that the usual description of the selectivity as function of the equilibrium concentration can be replaced by equation (1), which is independent of the equilibrium concentration. Once constants K , n and Q o (see the equation) have been determined the equilibrium data can be calculated from equation (1) and the mass balance equation (2). The practical capacity has been found by pilot plant experiment, and it was demonstrated that if it is expressed as ‘layer not used’ ( Y ), it is only dependent upon the flow rate. Once the relation between y and the flow rate is established, it is easy to design a column. This procedure is considerably less cumbersome than the usually applied calculation on the basis of diffusion coefficient.