Agglomerated adsorbent, process for the production thereof and use thereof for the non-cryogenic separation of industrial gases

Process for producing agglomerated bodies made of zeolite composed of at least 95% of lithium-exchanged zeolite X having an Si/Al ratio equal to 1, which process comprises the following operations:

• a) bodies made of zeolite LSX are subjected to one or more successive exchanges with a lithium chloride solution at a temperature of approximately 100° C.
• and optionally to exchange of the exchangeable cationic sites of the LSX with ions from Groups IA, IIA, IIIA and IIIB of the Periodic Table of Elements, trivalent ions from the series of lanthanides or rare earth metals, the zinc(II) ion, the cupric(II) ion, the chromic(III) ion, the ferric(III) ion, the ammonium ion and/or the hydronium ion,
• b) with repeated washing of the bodies exchanged in a)
• c) with drying and with thermal activation of the products washed in b),
• wherein the bodies made of zeolite LSX are the products resulting from the following operations:
• i) agglomerating a zeolite LSX powder with a binder containing at least 80% of a clay optionally convertable to zeolite,
• ii) shaping the mixture obtained in i),
• iii) drying it and then calcining it at a temperature of 500 to 700° C.,
• iv) bringing the solid product resulting from iii) into contact with an at least 0.5 molar caustic aqueous solution,
• v) washing, drying and activating at a temperature of 300 to 600° C., according to a method which does not produce hydrothermal degradation of the zeolitic structure.