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・ Various applications of weathered volcanic ash
Zeolite is one of the weathered and transmuted volcanic ashes under characteristic environmental conditions.
Industrial worlds have paid attention to zeolite as one of the inorganic industrial materials until now.
Its main ingredients are silicon oxide SiO2 , aluminum oxide Al2O3 , calcium oxide CaO , sodium oxide NaO , kalium oxide K2O and water H2O , etc, these are very similar to ingredients of natural volcanic ash, therefore, it's supposed that partial ingredients of the volcanic ashes were dissolved and transmuted.
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It's well-known that this zeolite can be transformed into glass by heating it at comparatively low temperature and it turns out to be a foamed state by dehydrating it.
In Japan, the distribution of zeolites roughly agrees with that of tuffs which were ejected from active volcanos in the Miocene and heaped on the ground.
And, various physical, chemical, biological actions on the layer of tuffs remarkably contributed to the generation of zeolites.
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At present ( about 2009 〜 2010 ), it's known that in Japan, good zeolites are widely distributed over Tohoku region and regions under which green tuffs are buried are mainly found out on the side of the Japan Sea.
And, as volcanic ashes were transformed into zeolites through various weathering-transmutation actions, they are distributed over the desert region of the South-West of the North America, the Great Rift Valley of the East-North Africa and East Europe , etc , world-widely.
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Furthermore, following features of zeolite have been pointed out by some researchers.
1. It contains zeolite-waters and large quantities of waters.
2. Its specific gravity is comparatively small and large gaps are formed in the dehydrated state.
3. It has cation-exchange properties.
4. It has same cavities as molecules in size, and it can adsorb gases & waters.
5. It has catalytic actions.
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Various ways to use it on above properties have been considered and executed.
Properties of this zeolite also depend on environments and climates.
Applied cases of zeolite at present are as follows ( about 2009 〜 2010 ).
( a ) Soft-clay for paper-manufacturing ( filler )
( b ) Separation-chemicals ( to separate oxygen from nitrogen and to adsorb SO2-gas )
( c ) Demoisture chemicals
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( d ) Ion-exchange for wastewater treatment
( e ) Soil-conditioner ( for improving soil and increasing holding-abilitiy of nitrogen fertilizer )
( f ) Materials for preventing granular fertilizer from hardening ( preventing granular fertilizer from losing moisture with covering )
( g ) For fodder ( killing bad smells such as deodorizing and drying excretions, wastewater treatment, mixing them with fodders )
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( h ) Catalytic carrier ( chemical treatment for NO2-gas similar to oxidation-catalyzer, the use of zeolite as catalyst )
( i ) Other industrial uses ( softening chemicals for hard water, adsorption chemicals for toxic gas, absorber for bad smell, treatment for toxic wastewater, etc )
As mentioned in the above, many and various applications have been considered and performed.
