Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Transformation of Production Sand Waste to FAU and LTA Zeolites for Selective Moisture Adsorption and Ethanol Conversion

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Topics in Catalysis Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The environmental impact associated with sand waste disposal in the oil/gas exploration and production process is one of the most crucial perspectives for sustainable development. In this contribution, we report the alternative concept for the transformation of production sand waste to various types of zeolites including Faujasite (FAU) and Linde Type A (LTA). At the first step of material preparation, nano-silica was extracted selectively from waste sand via a sol–gel hydrothermal method, eventually producing high purity silica with the silica content above 98 wt.%. Subsequently, the obtained nano-silica was converted efficiently to several zeolite frameworks including FAU and LTA via a simple hydrothermal process with the seed-assisted synthesis approach. The effect of hydrothermal crystallization time, starting Si/Al ratio, stirring rate, and hydrothermal temperature on the zeolite formation was studied systematically. To illustrate the beneficial aspect of the synthesized zeolites, the synthesized samples were applied as adsorbents for selective moisture adsorption in the presence of simulated hydrocarbons or air and catalysts for ethanol conversion. The results show that the synthesized FAU exhibits an excellent performance in the selective water adsorption in the presence of hydrocarbons/air with a high adsorption capacity of 0.0044 g of water per 1 g of catalyst. In addition, the catalytic performance of the synthesized acid FAU derived from production sand exhibited a promising potential for ethanol dehydration, resulting in ethanol conversion of 37% and ethylene selectivity of 13.8%. These findings open up the perspective of the development of adsorbents and catalysts using production sand waste as a raw material, which is a very useful scheme for the oil and gas industry.

Graphical Abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Scheme 1
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Owusu PA, Asumadu-Sarkodie S (2016) A review of renewable energy sources, sustainability issues and climate change mitigation. Cogent Eng 3:1167990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Burnham A, Han J, Clark CE, Wang M, Dunn JB, Palou-Rivera I (2012) Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of shale gas, natural gas, coal, and petroleum. Environ Sci Technol 46:619–627

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sundaram S, Kolb G, Hessel V, Wang Q (2017) Energy-efficient routes for the production of gasoline from biogas and pyrolysis oil-process design and life-cycle assessment. Ind Eng Chem Res 56:3373–3387

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Perego C, Bosetti A (2011) Biomass to fuels: the role of zeolite and mesoporous materials. Microporous Mesoporous Mater 144:28–39

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Asim N, Badiei M, Torkashvand M, Mohammad M, Alghoul AM, Gasaymeh SS, Sopian K (2021) Wastes from the petroleum industries as sustainable resource materials in construction sectors: opportunities, limitations, and directions. J Clean Prod 284:125459

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Al-Hameedi ATT, Alkinani HH, Albazzaz HW, D-Norman S, Alkhamis MM, (2020) Insights into the applications of waste materials in the oil and gas industry: state of the art review, availability, cost analysis, and classification. J Pet Explor Prod Technol 10:2137–2151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Elshorbagy W, Alkamali A (2005) Solid waste generation from oil and gas industries in United Arab Emirates. J Hazard Mater 120:89–99

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Ikporo B, Sylvester O (2015) Effect of sand invasion on oil well production: a case study of garon field in the Niger Delta. Int J Eng Sci 4:64–72

    Google Scholar 

  9. Taha R, Ba-Omar M, Pillay AE, Roos G, Al-Hamdi A (2001) Recycling of petroleum-contaminated sand. J Environ Monit 3:417–420

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Abousnina RM, Manalo A, Shiau J, Lokuge W (2016) An overview on oil contaminated sand and its engineering applications. Int J GEOMATE 10:1615–1622

    Google Scholar 

  11. Wu J, Dabros T (2012) Process for solvent extraction of bitumen from oil sand. Energy Fuels 26:1022–1008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Abramov OV, Abramov VO, Myasnikov SK, Mullakaev MS (2009) Extraction of bitumen, crude oil and its products from tar sand and contaminated sandy soil under effect of ultrasound. Ultrason Sonochem 16:408–416

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Berton P, Manouchehr S, Wong K, Ahmadi Z, Abdelfatah E, Rogers RD, Bryant SL (2020) Ionic liquids-based bitumen extraction: enabling recovery with environmental footprint comparable to conventional oil. ACS Sustainable Chem Eng 8:632–641

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Gao G, Yu T, Liu T, Su X, Chong F, Zhang X, Qu C (2021) Research progress on hydrothermal oxidation technology to treat oily sludge. IOP Conf Ser: Earth Environ Sci 804:042001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Chilingarian GV, Sadeghi KM, Sadeghi M-A, Yen TF (1989) Development of a new method for the extraction of bitumen from tar sands using sonication and sodium silicate. Chem Technol Fuels Oils 25:3–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Corma A, Garcia H (1998) Carbocations and organic radical cations inside zeolite matrices. Generation, characterization, stability and properties. Top Catal 6:127–140

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Cundy CS, Cox PA (2003) The hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites: history and development from the earliest days to the present time. Chem Rev 103:663–702

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Li Y, Li L, Yu J (2017) Applications of zeolites in sustainable chemistry. Chem 3:928–949

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Perot G, Guisnet M (1990) Advantages and disadvantages of zeolites as catalysts in organic chemistry. J Mol Catal 61:173–196

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Kadja GTM, Fabiani VA, Aziz MH, Fajar ATN, Prasetyo A, Suenodo V, Ng E-P, Mukti RR (2017) The effect of structural properties of natural silica precursors in the mesoporogen-free synthesis of hierarchical ZSM-5 below 100 °C. Adv Powder Technol 28:443–452

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Khaleque A, Alam MM, Hoque M, Mondal S, Haider JB, Xu B, Johir MAH, Karmakar AK, Zhou JL, Ahmed MB, Moni MA (2020) Zeolite synthesis from low-cost materials and environmental applications: a review. Environ Adv 2:100019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Musyoka NM, Petrik LF, Hums LF, Baser H, Schwieger W (2014) In situ ultrasonic diagnostic of zeolite X crystallization with novel (hierarchical) morphology from coal fly ash. Ultrasonics 54:537–543

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Zhu J, Cui Y, Wang Y, Wei F (2009) Direct synthesis of hierarchical zeolite from a natural layered material. Chem Commum 22:3282–3284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Terzano R, D’Alessandro C, Spagnuolo M, Romagnoli M, Medici L (2014) Facile zeolite synthesis from municipal glass and aluminum solid wastes. CLEAN—Soil Air Water 43:133–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Salakhum S, Prasertsab A, Klinyod S, Saenlung K, Witoon T, Wattanakit C (2021) Sustainable transformation of natural silica-rich solid and waste to hierarchical zeolites for sugar conversion to hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Microporous Mesoporous Mater 323:111252

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Sumari S, Santoso A, Cahyanti R, Yahmin Y, Wijaya AR (2019) Synthesis of zeolite Na/H-X using silica based of coastal sand by hydrothermal method. AIP Conf Proc 2251:040026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Hussain HM, Mohammed AK (2019) Preparation and characterization of mordenite zeolite from Iraqi sand. IOP Conf Ser: Mater Sci Eng 518:062002

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Tounsi H, Mseddi S, Djemel S (2009) Preparation and characterization of Na-LTA zeolite from Tunisian sand and aluminum scrap. Phys Procedia 2:1065–1074

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Watcharasing S, Wattanakit C, Salakhum S, Prasertsab A (2020) Synthesis of nano-silica and silicalite-1 zeolite from production sand. Thai Patent Application 2001007469 Application date: 25.12.2020

  30. Watcharasing S, Wattanakit C, Salakhum S, Prasertsab A, Kiattikomol P (2022) Synthesis of zeolites from production sand waste: The circular model for oil and gas exploration and production. OTC Asia

  31. Watcharasing S, Wattanakit C, Salakhum S, Prasertsab A, Yomthong K, Kiattikomol P (2021) Sand to zeolite for dehydration/desiccator applications Thai Patent Application 2103002735 Application date: 22.09.2021

  32. Wynnyk KG, Hojjati B, Marriott RA (2018) High-Pressure sour gas and water adsorption on zeolite 13X. Ind Eng Chem Res 57:15357–15365

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Sohbi B, Meakaff M, Emtir M, Elgarni M (2007) The using of mixing amines in an industrial gas sweetening plant. World Acad Sci Eng Technol 31:1–22007

    Google Scholar 

  34. Wang S, Peng Y (2010) Natural zeolites as effective adsorbents in water and wastewater treatment. Chem Eng J 156:11–24

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Wynnyk KG, Hojjati B, Pirzadeh P, Marriott RA (2017) High-pressure sour gas adsorption on zeolite 4A. Adsorption 23:149–162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Sharma P, Song J-S, Han MH, Cho C-H (2016) GIS-NaP1 zeolite microspheres as potential water adsorption material: influence of initial silica concentration on adsorptive and physical/topological properties. Sci Rep 6:22734

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Rida K, Bouraoui S, Hadnine S (2013) Adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution by kaolin and zeolite. Appl Clay Sci 83–84:99–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Hulea V (2018) Toward platform chemicals from bio-based ethylene: heterogeneous catalysts and processes. ACS Catal 8:3263–3279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Gayubo AG, Alonso A, Valle B, Aguayo AT, Bilbao J (2010) Kinetic modelling for the transformation of bioethanol into olefins on a hydrothermally stable Ni–HZSM-5 catalyst considering the deactivation by coke. Chem Eng J 167:262–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Pornsetmetakul P, Klinyod S, Rodaum C, Salakhum S, Iadrat P, Hensen EJM, Wattanakit C (2023) Fine-tuning texture of highly acidic hzsm-5 zeolite for efficient ethanol dehydration. ChemCatChem 15:e2022013

    Google Scholar 

  41. Salakhum S, Yutthalekha T, Chareonpanich M, Limtrakul J, Wattanakit C (2018) Synthesis of hierarchical faujasite nanosheets from corn cob ash-derived nanosilica as efficient catalysts for hydrogenation of lignin-derived alkylphenols. Micropore Mesopor Mat 258:141–150

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Yutthalekha T, Wattanakit C, Warakulwit C, Wannapakdee W, Rodponthukwaji K, Witoon T, Limtrakul J (2017) Hierarchical FAU-type zeolite nanosheets as green and sustainable catalysts for benzylation of toluene. J Clean Prod 142:1244–1251

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Suttipat D, Yutthalekha T, Wannapakdee W, Dugkhuntod P, Wetchasat P, Kidkhunthod P, Wattanakit C (2019) Tunable acid-base bifunction of hierarchical aluminum-rich zeolites for the one-pot tandem deacetalization-Henry reaction. ChemPlusChem 84:1503–1507

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Iadrat P, Hori N, Atithep T, Wattanakit C (2021) Effect of pore connectivity of pore-opened hierarchical MOR zeolites on catalytic behaviors and coke formation in ethanol dehydration. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 13:8294–8305

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Ketkaew M, Suttipat D, Kidkhunthod P, Witoon T, Wattanakit C (2019) Nanoceria-modified platinum supported on hierarchical zeolites for selective alcohol oxidation. RSC Adv 9:36027–36033

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Ghani U, Hussain S, Ali A, Tirth V, Algahtani A, Zaman A, Mushtaq M, Althubeiti K, Aljohani M (2022) Hydrothermal extraction of amorphous silica from locally available slate. ACS Omega 7:6113–6120

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Tamada O, Gibbs GV, Boisen MB Jr, Rimstidt JD (2012) Silica dissolution catalyzed by NaOH: reaction kinetics and energy barriers simulated by quantum mechanical strategies. J Mineral Petrol Sci 107:87–98

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Hasanah M, Sembiring T, Sitorus Z, Humaidi S, ZebuaRahmadsyah F (2022) Extraction and characterization of silicon dioxide from volcanic ash of mount sinabung, Indonesia: a preliminary study. J Ecol Eng 23:130–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Ishmah NS, Permana DM, Firdaus LM (2022) Extraction of silica from Bengkulu beach sand using alkali fusion method. J Sci Educ 4:1–5

    Google Scholar 

  50. Zhao Y, Zheng Y, He H, Sun Z (2021) A silica extraction from bauxite reaction residue and synthesis water glass. Green Process Synth 10:268–283

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Oleksiak DM, Soltis AJ, Conato TM, Penn LR, Rimer DJ (2016) Nucleation of FAU and LTA zeolites from heterogeneous aluminosilicate precursors. Chem Mater 28:4906–4916

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Ferchiche S, Warzywoda J, Sacco A Jr (2001) Direct synthesis of zeolite Y with large particle size. J Inorg Mater 3:773–780

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Mizuno Y, Miyake K, Tanaka S, Nishiyama N, Fukuhara C, Kong YC (2021) Phase-controlled synthesis of zeolites from sodium aluminosilicate under OSDA/solvent-free conditions. EurJIC 14:1405–1409

    Google Scholar 

  54. Qin Z, Cychosz AK, Melinte G, Siblani EH, Gilson J-P, Thommes M, Fernandez C, Mintova S, Ersen O, Valtchev V (2017) Opening the cages of faujasite-type zeolite. J Am Chem Soc 139:17273–17276

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Kocevski V, Hu SY, Besmann TM (2019) Alkaline earth ion exchange study in pure silica LTA zeolites using periodic first-principles calculations. New J Chem 43:1683550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Ammouli T, Paillaud J-L, Nouali H, Stephan R, Hanf M-C, Sonnet P, Deroche I (2021) Insights into water adsorption in potassium-exchanged X-type faujasite zeolite: Molecular simulation and experiment. J Phy Chem C 125:19405–19416

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Li X, Han H, Xu W, Hwang S-J, Shi Z, Lu P, Bhan A, Tsapatsis M (2022) Acid catalysis over low-silica faujasite zeolites. J Am Chem Soc 144:9324–9329

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Sydora OL (2010) Selective ethylene oligomerization. Organometallics 38:997–1010

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP). This project is also funded by National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) and Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology: VISTEC (grant number: N42A660307). In addition, this research has received funding support from the NSRF via the Program Management Unit for Human Resources & Institutional Development, Research and Innovation (grant number: B39G660027).

Funding

PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), National Research Council of Thailand, N42A660307, Chularat Wattanakit, Program Management Unit for Human Resources Institutional Development, Research and Innovation, B39G660027, Chularat Wattanakit.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and School of Energy Science and Engineering, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology, Rayong, 21210, Thailand

    Anittha Prasertsab, Wanwipa Leangsiri, Saros Salakhum, Krissanapat Yomthong & Chularat Wattanakit

  2. Frontier Research Center, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology, Rayong, 21210, Thailand

    Somlak Ittisanronnachai

  3. PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand

    Sunisa Watcharasing & Prapoj Kiattikomol

Authors
  1. Anittha Prasertsab
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wanwipa Leangsiri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Saros Salakhum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Krissanapat Yomthong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Somlak Ittisanronnachai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Sunisa Watcharasing
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Prapoj Kiattikomol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Chularat Wattanakit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

AP, SS, SW, PK, CW; Methodology: AP, SS, KY; Formal analysis and investigation: AP, WL, KY, SI; Writing-original draft preparation: AP; Writing-review and editing: AP, SW, PK, CW; Funding acquisition: SW, PK, CW; Supervision: CW.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chularat Wattanakit.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 3150 KB)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Prasertsab, A., Leangsiri, W., Salakhum, S. et al. Transformation of Production Sand Waste to FAU and LTA Zeolites for Selective Moisture Adsorption and Ethanol Conversion. Top Catal 66, 1631–1648 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-023-01853-0

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-023-01853-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation