Chromatographic propane-propylene separation by different zeolites obtained from rice husk ashes

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 669; p. 160541
• Main Authors: Morales, Katia Borrego, Ballesteros-Plata, Daniel, Rodríguez-Castellón, Enrique, Cecilia, Juan A., Rabdel Ruiz-Salvador, A., Autié Castro, Giselle I., Farías, Tania
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-10-2024
• Subjects: Gas chromatography; Porosity; Propane-propylene; Separation; Synthetic zeolites; Gas chromatography; Synthetic zeolites; Separation; Porosity; Propane-propylene
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2024.160541

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•First report of hierarchical and acid X zeolite for propane/propylene separation.•Low cost zeolites were obtained from rice husk ash as silicon source.•Characterization demonstrated the presence of micro and mesopores in the samples.•Preferential adsorption of propylene over propane in all samples.
Chromatographic separation of propane and propylene is accomplished by three low-cost zeolite X (microporous, hierarchical and acidic). The materials were synthetized from rice husk ash, and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, high-resolution transmission and scanning electron microscopies, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms at −196 °C, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infra-red spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. From chromatographic data, the differential adsorption heats involved, the separation factors and the corresponding partition coefficients were estimated. Preferential adsorption of propylene was found in all samples and also favorable separation factors were computed for the studied separation. The higher interaction energy values were obtained for the hierarchical zeolite possessing a wide range of micro and mesopores. The results indicate the potential of these materials obtained from an agro-industrial waste for the separation of propane-propylene mixtures.