Applications (Uses) of Zeolites in Civil Construction and other Fields

Besides the widely usage of zeolites in the Livestock and Agriculture Industries, it is also utilized in the civil constructions and other technological fields as well.

To begin with, zeolites can also be used for separating oxygen and nitrogen in the air to produce oxygen-enriched gas. This technology utilizes the strong absorbability of mordenite to nitrogen molecules to generate oxygen continuously which is vastly depend on the device and can also produce nitrogen as well.

Zeolite rock/ore is generally soft but not fragile is used as teaching material for carving for school children and is also used as cleanser.

One of the new applications of zeolites is in food packaging materials that are made of polyethylene film incorporated with zeolites was developed with an aim to retain the freshness of food or fruits and vegetables.

One of the most important applications of zeolites is in the civil constructions. In civil constructions, zeolites are used as new lightweight building materials such as plastic filler and plywood adhesives. Further to the lightweight, zeolites are also used as foam blocks incorporated in linings of chimneys of thermal plants and dolomite plaster.

Similar to zeolite, siliceous mud-stone is utilized in such applications as soil conditioners, deodorizers (for environment improvement of poultry and pig farms), and special fertilizers.

Siliceous mudstone is also referred to as “crystobal rock” which contains a lot of crystobalite composed of silica (SiO₂).

Zeolite is used in a wide range of applications and among them is the clay for papermaking which was developed in Japan. Zeolite is soft and its powder is significantly white and it is applied to papermaking to take advantage of its properties. Zeolite clay is serving as a filter which provided paper with high opacity and excellent ink acceptance.

Synthetic zeolite was invented by German Professor Gans in 1905, and was first named permutit and after permutare, a Latin word meaning exchange. Permutit has a composition of Na₂O.Al₂O.xSiO₂.yH₂O and strong adsorbability.

Crushed Zeolite Materials ready for loading

References:

Boiling stone (zeolite), Zeolite Dynamics, Lecture Notes.

Nouko to Engei (Agriculture and Horticulture), September 1978.

JACK News

Materials for Zeolite Forum (1989)

Survey by Zeolite Industrial Association