Abstract:
Ethiopian Bentonite clay was activated using sulfuric acid at various concentrations and investigated for their ability to bleach sunflower oil. Bleaching properties of acid-activated bentonite clays were studied to investigate their applicability as an alternative to the expensive imported bleaching earth. To know effect of acid concentration on bentonite clay, temperature and contact time were fixed at 90oC and 30min respectively and bleaching experiment was done on activated samples namely B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5. From this experiment maximum adsorbing efficiency was attained at 70.37% with sample activated with 3M of H2SO4. After acquiring the best acid concentration, the effect of temperature and contact time were investigated with 9 experiment done at constant acid concentration of 3M of H2SO4 with contact time of 20min, 30min and 40min with temperature of 70oC, 90oC, 110oC. The adsorbing performance was investigated using Lovibond Tintometer and the results showed that high bleaching performance was determined at 3M Concentration of H2SO4 with temperature and time of 110oC and 30mins respectively and also maximum adsorbing efficiency was attained at 77.96%. The activated Ethiopian bentonite clay can be used in oil industries for bleaching vegetable oils since it showed closer properties with the commercial bleaching earth. Since bentonite is an abundant natural adsorbent, improving its properties by acid activation can make a cost effective adsorbent for bleaching vegetable oils.