Removal of Cr(III) from aqueous solution by zeolites sintetized from exhausted FCC catalysts. Kinetics studies and effect of Cr(III) exchange on the zeolitic structure

M. R. GONZALEZ; A. M. PEREYRA; E. I. BASALDELLA

Moscú

Congreso; 17th International Zeolite Conference; 2013

International Zeolite Association

The petrochemical industry produces every year a large amount of spent FCC catalysts.Over 300,000 tons are produced annually [1], whereby the spent catalyst is a solid waste ofdifficult discarding. Most of the exhausted catalysts are disposed as ground filler, so its useas a low-cost starting material is very attractive. Considering the aluminosiliceous nature ofthis catalyst, several studies were done about its conversion in zeolitic mixtures [2-3]. In thispaper, a sample of spent catalyst from a catalytic cracking unit (FCC) was converted in azeolitic product mainly consisting of zeolite Na-A. Afterwards, the kinetic of the exchangereaction, the ability of the synthetic material to remove the cations Cr(III) present inaqueous solutions and the physicochemical characteristics of the chromium containingproduct were studied.