Investigation of the Ion-Exchange Behavior of Zeolite Y in the Presence of Resin

Ion-exchange process of zeolite Y using ammonium-type resin as an exchange reagent was successfully carried out. The effect of temperature, space velocity and ion concentration on the breakthrough curves was carefully investigated. At the first exchange section, the maximum proportion of qualified zeolites （QR） was obtained at a temperature of 70 ℃, a weight hourly space velocity of 0.61 h^-1, and an ion concentration of 197 mg/L. The minimum length of mass-transfer zone （MTZ） of the resin bed was achieved at a temperature of 70 ℃, a space velocity of 0.61 h^-1, and an ion concentration of 423 mg/L. At the second exchange section, the length of MTZ of the resin bed was significantly increased, and the exchange of Na^＋ ions contained in zeolite Y was more difficult than that achieved at the first exchange section. In both the first and the second exchange sections, the zeolite Y subjected to ion exchange with the resin maintained the similar physical and chemical properties as compared to those exchanged by the conventional approaches, but the zeolite Y, which was obtained after ion exchange, contained a significantly lower content of Na2O.