The conversion technology of fly ash into zeolites

This paper presents a sub-pilot scale process of synthesis of Na-P1 zeolite from the coal fly ash. After establishing the appropriate synthesis conditions (20 kg of fly ash, 12 kg of NaOH, 90 dm(3) of water, the reaction temperature: 80 A degrees C and reaction time: 36 h), the high-purity (81 wt%) Na-P1 zeolite product was obtained. Its chemical, mineralogical, and textural properties were determined (by means of XRD, XRF, SEM-EDS and ASAP 2020). The synthesized material has a specific BET surface area (88 m(2)/g) c.a. six times higher than the fly ash from which it has been derived (15 m(2)/g). The pore-size distribution indicates a mesoporous character of the obtained zeolite, with the following pores size contents: micropores (2.76 %), mesopores (61.81 %), and macropores (35.43 %). The presented technological/production line is fully automated and allows to regulate the conditions of the synthesis process, therefore different types of zeolite materials (including: Na-X, Linde-A, and Na-P1) can be obtained using the same equipment.