Zeolite in the Consumer Goods Industry

Interview with N. Lygeros by N. Chazaridis. ALPHA Radio 88.6, Kavala, 1 March 2017

Following years of campaigning to promote the use of Greek zeolite, an official licence has been granted to operate the quarry for this industrial mineral, on a public plot of 83.4273 stremmata, at Kokkalo Petrotwn in the municipality of Orestiada, Evros, to Olympus S.A. The decision was taken by the Ministry of Environment and Energy on 20 February 2017 and bears the reference number: ΔΜΕΒΟ-Β/Φ6.11.7/171440/315. In practical terms, this means that we are moving not only into a new phase for zeolite, but into a whole new cycle. This is because it will be the first time in Greece’s history ... Read more

Takahiko Moteki and Raul F. Lobo Chem. Mater., Just Accepted Manuscript DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b04439 Publication Date (Web): December 17, 2015 Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society Abstract The fluoride method of zeolite synthesis yields materials with unique characteristics such as high Si/Al ratio, large crystal size, and hydrophobic properties, and it has been advantageous for the synthesis of new pure-silica or high-silica zeolites. It is often difficult, however, to incorporate aluminum—and thus bring about useful catalytic properties—in materials prepared through the fluorite method. In this report we show that FAU-type zeolites are an effective source of aluminum to the growing crystals ... Read more

Dr. Georgian Melinte, Dr. Veselina Georgieva, Dr. Marie-Anne Springuel-Huet, Dr. Andreï Nossov, Prof. Ovidiu Ersen, Dr. Flavien Guenneau, Prof. Antoine Gedeon, Dr. Ana Palčić, Dr. Krassimir N. Bozhilov, Dr. Cuong Pham-Huu, Prof. Shilun Qiu, Dr. Svetlana Mintova, Dr. Valentin Valtchev First published: 27 October 2015Full publication history DOI: 10.1002/chem.201501919View/save citation Abstract The principle aspects and constraints of the dynamics and kinetics of zeolite nucleation in hydrogel systems are analyzed on the basis of a model Na-rich aluminosilicate system. A detailed time-series EMT-type zeolite crystallization study in the model hydrogel system was performed to elucidate the topological and temporal aspects of zeolite nucleation. A comprehensive set of analytical tools and methods was employed to analyze ... Read more

South Africa has large coal reserves. It mainly burns coal to produce electricity at 13 existing coal-burning power plants, situated mainly in Mpumalanga, a province in the country’s east. In South Africa, coal power generation results in at least 36 million tonnes of solid waste residue called fly ash being produced annually. That’s the equivalent of six dumps each the size of the Pyramid of Giza. Fly ash is a problem anywhere in the world where coal is burnt, but it is particularly so in South Africa because its low-grade coal has up to 40% inorganic residue that turns into ash on combustion. Fly ash is ... Read more

Mostafa Ragab Abd El Wahab, Moaa Korany Seliem, Essam Abd El Rahman Mohamed, Ali Quarny seliem, Mohamed Gad Shahien Scanning electron micrographs of natural and synthetic zeolites A. ZN (a), ZH (b) and ZF (c). ZN is characterized by the presence of prismatic crystals of phillipsite-K (3a). (ZH) shows particles with irregular morphology associated with well-developed crystals (3b). (ZF) shows well developed cubic crystals with sharp edges and smooth surfaces (3c) Abstract In this study, we prepared hydrated and dehydrated Na-zeolites under different conditions using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and Egyptian kaolin. The synthetic zeolites were characterized by XRD, SEM, specific ... Read more

K. Lizama Allende, T. D. Fletcher and G. Sun Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Building 60, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia E-mail: katherine.lizama@monash.edu ABSTRACT The presence of arsenic and heavy metals in drinking water sources poses a serious health risk due to chronic toxicological effects. Constructed wetlands have the potential to remove arsenic and heavy metals, but little is known about pollutant removal efficiency and reliability of wetlands for this task. This lab-scale study investigated the use of vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands for removing arsenic, boron, copper, zinc, iron and manganese from synthetic wastewater. Gravel, limestone, zeolite and cocopeat ... Read more

Vandana Swarnkar (1) & Radha Tomar (2) (1) School of Studies in Chemistry Jiwaji University, GWALIOR – 474011 (M.P.) INDIA (2) School of Studies in Chemistry Jiwaji University, GWALIOR – 474011 (M.P.) INDIA ABSTRACT: The use of surfactant-modified zeolites as sorbents to remove multiple types of contaminants from water has attracted great attention recently. Sorption of cationic surfactants onto negatively charged zeolite and clay mineral surfaces is controlled by cation exchange and hydrophobic interactions. When surfactant loading is less than the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the substrate, the retention of surfactant is via cation exchange. Once the surfactant loading ... Read more

At last, the lies about Greece leaving the EU – as if the European Union would want that – have come to an end. From the very beginning of this whole affair, we have consistently written that no such procedure exists within the institutional framework, however much some people might have imagined it. The only way for such an exit to happen is solely through Greece’s own will. You’d need the liver of Prometheus to endure the beating we’ve taken. But now more and more voices are speaking out freely and putting an end to this farce. The funniest thing, ... Read more

When there are not even objective values within a political sphere, how can one expect any progress in the implementation of a policy? When it has been proven that the only thing that matters is the party – and nothing else, no matter what happens in our country – why are you still wondering if there is any hope? The crux of the matter surely lies elsewhere, especially when you realise that it is incapable of playing any role in strategy or action. For the rigged negotiations not only failed to benefit Greece’s progress, but actually managed to undermine it, ... Read more

C.C.M. Rindt, M. Gaeini, S.Lan, D.M.J. Smeulders Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands In summer, the sun provides more heat than needed to warm residential houses while in winter the heat demand cannot be met by solar energy supply. A solution is to store excess solar energy in a thermal ‘battery’ which can be discharged to meet the residential heat demand in winter. A reliable method for seasonal solar heat storage is by means of thermochemical materials (TCMs). The process is based on a reversible adsorption-desorption reaction, which is exothermic in hydration and endothermic ... Read more

With the new data from the Kokkalo area near Petrota, in Northern Evros, the mapping of Greek zeolite is revealing more and more information about these strategic reserves of our country. The recording of geological data and the identification of zeolite tuffs now give us a clearer picture of the location of the deposits of interest to us due to their high clinoptilolite content. In other words, we no longer rely solely on estimates, as we did previously for the area, but tangible results – and indeed, some of these are backed up by chemical analyses, thanks to the tremendous ... Read more