Separation of Aromatic Compounds from Normal Paraffinic Petroleum Mixture Using Geopolymer Adsorbent Based on Metakaolin

DOI: 10.14800/IOGR.1328

Abstract

Metakaolin-based geopolymers are environmentally sustainable materials that can be synthesized from waste products. In this study, a metakaolin-based geopolymer adsorbent was synthesized, characterized, and evaluated for the removal of aromatic compounds from normal paraffin (C₁₀-C₁₃). The results indicated that modification of the geopolymer adsorbent with activated carbon enhanced its aromatic compound removal efficiency. However, when the activated carbon/metakaolin ratio exceeded 1:12, the removal efficiency declined. Additionally, modification with hydrogen peroxide as a foaming agent resulted in a higher aromatic removal capacity compared to the unmodified geopolymer adsorbent. It was observed that increasing the temperature from 70 to 120 °C enhanced the aromatic removal efficiency by up to 21%. Furthermore, increasing the adsorbent dosage from 0.001 to 0.1 g/L in petroleum samples led to an increase in aromatic compound removal. However, beyond this point, further increases in the adsorbent dosage resulted in a decrease in adsorption capacity.