Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Article Title: Identification of Kaolinite Clay in Five Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria for Zeolite Synthesis as a Way of Import Substitution
by Babalola, R. Bassey, E. N, Brown, I. Land and Salahudeen, N

Abstract:
In this study, raw kaolinite clay of silica/alumina molar ratio of 3.90, 2.287, 3.03, 2.55 and 2.76 were obtained from Eket, Etinan, IbionoIbom, IkotAbasi and UdungUko clay deposits respectively. Samples from each deposit were subjected to beneficiation to get rid of the inherent impurities such as quartz. The dried samples were further refined through metakaolinization at 800� C for 4 h which transforms the kaolin into a highly disordered and amorphous phase called metakaolin. The dehydroxylated kaolin was treated with 98% purity tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid in a novel way where dealuminations were achieved for 5 min without external heat other than heat of sulphonation. The hydrothermal process was achieved with reactions of Metakaolin with aqueous NaOH at atmospheric pressure. This paper describes the preparation of Zeolite Y and ZSM-5 catalysts from identified kaolinite clay deposits in five (5) local government areas of Akwa Ibom State by ageing at 30o C for 6 days and crystalizing at 95o C for 12 hours to obtain the SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of 11.26, 5.57, 9.42, 8.50 and 7.60 respectively. These XRF results were corroborated with those obtained from other physicochemical characterization such as XRD. However, results after clay beneficiation showed the clay to contained high iron oxide content, low potassium. Hence, the deposit is a good source of zeolite synthesis which can serve as a substitute for imported ones.

Keywords: Zeolite-Y, Hydrothermal, Metakaolinization, ZSM-5, XRF.

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