Dissolution Kinetics of Stilbite at Various Temperatures under Alkaline Conditions

Experiments measuring the dissolution rates of stilbite (NaCa [Al Si O ].14H O) in pH-buffered solutions were 2 5 13 36 2 performed in batch reactors at 4, 25, 40 and 60 oC. The pH conditions of the buffer solutions ranged from 8.5 to 12.5. The dissolution rates calculated from silicon concentration of the reacting fluid increased with increasing temperature (4–60 oC) and pH. The dissolution rates ranged from 3.45 x 10-15 (mol cm-2 s-1) at pH 10.7 and 4oC to 1.93 x 10-9 (mol cm-2 s-1) at pH 12 and 60oC and were pH dependent. The rate law was established as R = k (a -)n , where k is OH the rate constant, a is the activity of the OH- species and n the reaction order. The n values obtained were, 0.32 at 4 oC, 0.35 at 25 oC, 0.38 at 40 oC and 0.38 at 60 oC. Activation energy determined using Arrhenius plot was 48.45 kJ/mol at pH 9 and 30.88 kJ/mol at pH 12.