Separation of surfactants from polar solids
AssigneeRive Technology, Inc.
InventorsKunhao Li, Barry Speronello
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods for removing surfactants from polar solids are described herein. In particular, various embodiments described herein relate to the removal of surfactants from polar solids that involves contacting a surfactant-containing porous polar solid with an extraction agent comprising water, a salt, and, optionally, a polar organic compound. In certain embodiments described herein, the extraction agents are used to remove surfactants from a mesoporous zeolite.
Claims32
A method for removing a surfactant from a polar solid, said method comprising:
- contacting a surfactant-containing porous polar solid with an initial extraction agent under conditions sufficient to remove at least a portion of a surfactant from the pores of said surfactant-containing polar solid, wherein said initial extraction agent comprises water and a salt,
- wherein said initial extraction agent comprises a polar organic compound that is capable of at least partially solubilizing the surfactant, wherein said polar organic compound is selected from the group consisting of THF, one or more alcohols, one or more pyridines, one or more ketones, one or more aldehydes, one or more amides, and combinations thereof,
- wherein said salt is selected from the group consisting of NaCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4, (NH4)2SO4, MgSO4, Mg(NO3)2, CaCl2, Ca(NO3)2, La(NO)3, Ce(NO3)4, LaCl3, CeCl4, AlCl3, Al2(SO4)3, and mixtures thereof.
A method for removing a surfactant from a mesoporous zeolite, said method comprising:
- (a) contacting a surfactant-containing mesoporous zeolite with an initial extraction agent under conditions sufficient to remove at least a portion of a cationic surfactant from the pores of said surfactant-containing mesoporous zeolite to thereby provide a treated mesoporous zeolite and a surfactant-containing extraction agent, wherein said initial extraction agent comprises water, a salt, and a polar organic compound, wherein said polar organic compound is capable of at least partially solubilizing said cationic surfactant, wherein said surfactant-containing extraction agent comprises at least a portion of said water, at least a portion of said salt, at least a portion of said polar organic compound, and at least a portion of said cationic surfactant initially present in the pores of said surfactant-containing mesoporous zeolite;
- and
- (b) separating said treated mesoporous zeolite from said surfactant-containing extraction agent to thereby provide a recovered mesoporous zeolite and a spent extraction agent, wherein the weight ratio of the amount of said cationic surfactant present in the pores of said recovered mesoporous zeolite to the amount of said cationic surfactant present in the pores of said surfactant-containing mesoporous zeolite is not more than 0.9:1.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.