Activation of clay sample from Zaria L.G.A. of kaduna State and testing its bleaching performance on groundnut oil, palm oil and cottenseed oil

Abstract

Clay samples from Zaria L.G.A. of Kaduna state was acid activated using hydrochloric acid in the concentration range of 5%, 10%, to 30% (v/v), at 90oC ± 2oC for 3 hours, and heat activated at 145oC for 30 minutes. The raw, acid and heat activated clay were tested on groundnut, palm and cottonseed oils. The per cent colour reduction was monitored spectrophotometrically. There was improvement in the decolourizing performance of the clay sample when acid or heat activated towards the three oil samples, but acid activation is more suitable for groundnut oil, while for palm and cottonseed oils the results obtained were similar for both methods.

Keywords: Clay, Kaolinite, Bleaching, Zaria, Oil