Production of Zeolites: How Are They Made?

Zeolites are health supplements that act as powerful anti-toxins that flush away harmful ions and heavy metals from our body. They have recently become popular due to increased exposure to their health benefits, and are being produced in more and more quantities at present.

But how are they produced? Naturally? Artificially?

Most of the industrial zeolites are produced in a synthetic manner, unlike natural zeolites that are naturally formed. This is done because there is not enough natural zeolite to sustain the demands worldwide, hence synthetic means were developed for their mass production that copies the exact same structure as of natural ones.

Natural Production

Most of the natural zeolites are obtained from best zeolite mining processes, which typically employ open pit mines. They zeolites are taken off as it is and then crushed and dried for processing and sales. The final product is then milled and shipped in bulk worldwide. Most zeolites are classified based on particle size and packed accordingly. The U.S zeolite production (naturally obtained) is about 60,000 tons annually.

A disadvantage of natural zeolite is that a particular ore contains little zeolite, meaning the rate of churning out natural ones are quite low, which gave rise to synthetic zeolite production.

Synthetic Production

Artificial zeolites are made by slow crystallization of gels consisted of silica and alumina in the presence of alkalis and organic materials, to simulate their natural production. This results in a perfect and uniformly designed zeolite structure that can be altered during the production process, depending on needs. There are estimated to be about 200 varieties of synthetic zeolites worldwide, each kind being employed in a different task and different requirement.

The variations can be made by tweaking the contents of the gel and adding other potential elements to obtain the desired properties. Synthetic zeolites often carry significant advantages over natural zeolites, such as zeolite A, a variant that has a uniform, phase-pure structure, a zeolite that does not actually appear naturally and is solely made by humans. Another advantage is that the production of zeolites employs silica and alumina, two of the most abundant minerals in the earth, making the supply of synthetic zeolites virtually limitless.