Eco-friendly synthesis and environmental impact assessment of hierarchical Beta zeolite from kaolinite and recycled mother liquor

Guoxi Xiao; Xiaoling Chen; Tiesen Li; Chan Wang; Qingyan Cui; Yuanyuan Yue

Green Chemical Engineering (Dec 2024)

Eco-friendly synthesis and environmental impact assessment of hierarchical Beta zeolite from kaolinite and recycled mother liquor

Guoxi Xiao,
Xiaoling Chen,
Tiesen Li,
Chan Wang,
Qingyan Cui,
Yuanyuan Yue

Affiliations

Guoxi Xiao: National Engineering Research Center of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Qingyuan Innovation Laboratory, Quanzhou, 362801, China
Xiaoling Chen: National Engineering Research Center of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
Tiesen Li: National Engineering Research Center of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Qingyuan Innovation Laboratory, Quanzhou, 362801, China; Corresponding author.
Chan Wang: National Engineering Research Center of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Qingyuan Innovation Laboratory, Quanzhou, 362801, China
Qingyan Cui: National Engineering Research Center of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Qingyuan Innovation Laboratory, Quanzhou, 362801, China
Yuanyuan Yue: National Engineering Research Center of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Qingyuan Innovation Laboratory, Quanzhou, 362801, China; Corresponding author.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 5, no. 4
pp. 501 – 510

Abstract

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The development of sustainable techniques to produce high-performance zeolite is essential to achieve green production in industry. Herein, we report an eco-friendly route to synthesizing hierarchical Beta zeolite from kaolinite and recycled mother liquor. The results reveal that the unutilized species (such as silicon species and Na+) in mother liquor stayed in a stable concentration during eleven recycled experiments. Moreover, the synthesized Beta zeolites still have comparable physicochemical properties and catalytic performance in the esterification of levulinic acid with ethanol over the initial zeolite although eleven recycled experiments. Life cycle assessment exhibits that the synthesis of Beta zeolite with recycled mother liquor can reduce global warming potential by 23% and resource depletion-water use by 36% compared to that without recycled mother liquor. This quantitatively demonstrates that the approach proposed in this work is really a sustainable one, extremely increasing the utilization efficiency of raw materials and decreasing the environmental burden.

Published in Green Chemical Engineering

ISSN: 2666-9528 (Online)
Publisher: KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Technology: Chemical technology: Chemical engineering; Science: Chemistry: Organic chemistry: Biochemistry
Website: https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/green-chemical-engineering/

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