Clay-based filter for the purification of industrial water

The clay as sediment material represents an attractive material for the synthesis of porous ceramics due to its low price and high abundance. Porous ceramics provide an opportunity for combining important properties of materials, such as high porosity, high thermal and chemical stability. This combination of properties is vital for various industrial applications such as filters, heat insulators, absorbents, catalyst supports and advanced environmental applications, such as membranes or chromatography columns. This material has traditionally been used as a building material and thermal insulation. During coal exploitation from the surface of the mining site at the coal mine at RB Kolubara, a considerable amount of clay-like material is deposited, which has a high economic potential. After the process of clay purification, boric acid was used as a low-cost, environmentally friendly chemical to create a porous structure. The influence of different contents of boric acid in amounts of 2 wt.% and 0.5 wt.%, and various synthesis conditions, such as low pressing pressure of up to 60 MPa and low sintering temperatures of 1150 oC and 1300 oC were used to make the filter medium with optimal hardness and filter with uniform pore distribution. Ongoing research is focused on the optimization of the synthesis parameters which affect the desired filter properties.