GSA Resources, Inc. produces the CABSORB® product line of zeolites, and specialty clay products. GSA also provides consulting services on the uses and applications of specialty and performance industrial minerals.
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Chabazite

Chabazite Clinoptilolite

 

 

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ZS500 Product SEM which shows the microcrystalline chabazite surrounding larger crystals of clinoptilolite

Chabazite is the most important member of the 48 minerals in the zeolite group. The only known deposit of its size and purity in the world, is located at Bowie, Arizona, U.S.A.

GSA Resources, Inc. controls 796,000 tons of proven high purity Chabazite reserves which is the major constituent in the ZS500 CABSORB products, distributed exclusively by GSA Resources, Inc.

The Bowie, AZ. deposit was formed as a result of a unique set of conditions that occurred about 3 million years ago. At that time a major volcanic eruption occurred, in what is now California. The volcanic ash from the eruption was carried eastward, and was deposited into a lake basin and surrounding swamps into what is now the Bowie, AZ area. The ash consisted of fine grained glass shards. Over time the glass shards altered to microcrystalline crystals of chabazite, having a crystallite size of less than a micron. It is the microcrystallinity of the chabazite that produced large surface area and pore volume which promotes accelerated ion exchange and sorption rates as well as high permeability. The slow rate of crystallization that occurred over millions of years, resulted in a chemically stable structure which is more resistant to de-alumination, than the 5A synthetic zeolites.

In addition the Bowie deposit ranges in chemical composition from a calcium sodium chabazite (this is GSA's ZC400 and ZC500 products) to a high sodium chabazite which is known as herschelite (this is GSA's ZS500 products). The herschelite is preferred for most ion exchange application because the sodium cation exchanges more readily than calcium, potassium or magnesium cations.

Chabazite from the Bowie deposit has been used successfully at the Oak Ridge, Hanford, and Savannah River Nuclear Facilities to remove radioactive cesium and strontium from process waters. It is used in several gas treatment facilities to remove water and carbon dioxide from sour natural gases which often  contain hydrogen sulfide. It is stable at a pH of 2.5 which makes it suitable for removing water from hydrogen chloride gas streams,  and carbon dioxide from stack gas emissions.  It is also used in solar powered refrigeration and sorption air conditioning units.

The following is a summary of various applications and the CABSORB product that can been used in the applications.

bulletDesiccation: ZS500A is an anhydrous product which contains less than 3% retained moisture and will adsorb a minimum of 15 wt% water at 10% relative humidity and 25oC. Applications include keeping products and equipment in a moisture free environment. Chabazite will remove moisture more rapidly and more completely than  silica gel or clay desicants. This product can be used to remove small percentages of moisture from low pH process gas streams, as well   remove moisture from inside exhaust systems after the engine is shut down, preventing corrossion.
bulletGas Separation: ZS500A has been used in sorption heating and cooling applications which use water as the heat transfer liquid instead of freon. Sorption heating and cooling can use oil, gas, wood, or solar energy as the heat source . Significantly sorption heating and cooling is more efficient that the freon-based conventional compression expansion systems. Bowie chabazite is superior to synthetic zeolites in this application because of its higher rate of sorption and desorption, its resistance to degradation and its much lower cost.
bulletRadioactive Waste Treatment:  ZS500RW  is used to remove Cs137 and Sr90 from radioactive effluents. This product is highly selective for Sr90.   In fact it removes more than any other natural or synthetic zeolite product. Ion exchange resins are not used to treat radioactive effluents because the radiation destroys the resin.
bulletIon Exchange Applications: ZS500H removes 2.3 meq/gm or about 9 wt% ammonia nitrogen from aqueous solutions. It can recover up to 21.9 wt% silver, 15.3 wt% copper and 2.8 wt% cobalt from solutions. ZS500H was used to recover silver from bleed off solutions at hydrometallurgical plant loaded 18 wt% on a hydrous basis.

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Last modified:  June 22, 2000