The Effect of Activation Modelling of Nigerian Local Clay on the Adsorption Characteristics

The research work is on the effect of modeling of acid activation on the adsorption characteristics of local clay in Nigeria. The sample of the local clay which was obtained from Eha-Ndiagu clay deposit in Enugu State of Nigeria was subjected to pretreatment to obtain pulverized clay of average particle size of 500μm. The activation was carried out at different process conditions of temperature, contact time, dosage and mass percentage of acid using activating agent of HCl. From the result, it shows that each of the parameters investigated, the adsorption capacities of clay increase to a maximum and later decreased progressively while the sample coded S₂ exhibited the highest degree of performance. Similarly, the effect of adsorption on the refining of palm oil also displaced a spectacular performance. A high degree of bleaching efficiency ranging from 85 to 90% were recorded at the different controlling factors of adsorption. This, therefore, suggest that the local clay of Eha-Ndiagu can be classified as a high-ranking adsorbent if it is properly activated.