Chromium retention by zeolite-rich materials obtained from exhausted cracking catalysts

ELENA I. BASALDELLA; MAXIMILIANO R. GONZALEZ; JUAN C. TARA

Sorrento

Conferencia; 16th International Zeolite Conference joint with the 7th International Mesostructured Materials Symposium; 2010

International Zeolite Conference and International Mesostructured Materials

It is known that the cation exchange property presented by zeolitic materials is one of their fundamental characteristics for their application as heavy metals immobilizer in purification processes. Up to the present time, exchange processes of zeolites with mono and divalent cations have been widely studied. Additionally, although exhausted FCC catalysts are classified as a safe waste, the amount produced is significant  and when its useful life is finished, the used catalyst constitute a residue difficult  to be handled. Most of exhausted catalysts are disposed as land fill, so it could be attractive the possibility of using them as raw material for zeolite synthesis. Previous experiments showed that the alkaline fusion functions as an alternative way to increase the reactivity of solid phases, favoring the amorphization of kaolins used to obtain zeolites.