Determination of chemical components of zeolite quarries in gördes (Manisa) by xrf spectrometric method

Natural zeolites are environmentally and economically valuable hydrated aluminosilicate materials with exceptional ion exchange, absorption, and catalysis properties. Since the effectiveness or use of zeolites in different industrial processes depends on their physical-chemical properties that are tightly connected to their geological deposits, accurate, fast and reliable determination of the elemental distribution of zeolite quarries is important. In this study, oxide, heavy metal, rare earth, radioactive element and other element contents of 81 zeolite samples collected from four different zeolite quarries in Gördes district of Manisa were analyzed by using energy dispersed X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. SiO2/Al2O3 ratios were determined for each zeolite quarry and pH values of zeolite samples were measured. In addition, radiogenic heat generation (RHG) caused by radiations emitted from uranium (U), thorium (Th) and radioactive potassium (40K) in zeolite samples was calculated. Gördes zeolite contains main oxides, on average, 75.1% SiO2, 14.1% Al2O3, 3.2% K2O, 2.4% CaO, 1.7% Fe2O3, 1.4% MgO, 1.3% Na2O and %, 0.1 TiO2. In the Gördes zeolite samples, toxic heavy metals important for human and environmental health such as 47.8 mg/kg Pb, 24.8 mg/kg As and 2.1 mg/kg Cd were analyzed. The average thorium and uranium contents of the zeolite samples were found to be 30.1 mg/kg and 6.0 mg/kg, respectively. According to average SiO2/Al2O3 ratios, ZO1 quarry contains middle silica zeolites while ZO2, ZO3 and ZO4 quarries contain high silica group zeolites. RHG values estimated for zeolite samples varied from 2.3 µW/m3 to 4.1 µW/m3.