Kinetics of proton transfer in the zeolitic tuff

The kinetics of a proton transfer into dilute acid solutions containing natural zeolitic tuff was studied by following the pH evolution of the liquid phase. Four different solutions with tuff contents of 9, 3, 1 and 0.5 (% wt) and three different particle size fractions (≤ 2000 μm) were studied. The proton concentration of the solution was decreased by increasing the zeolite amount and decreasing the particle size fraction. The proton transfer reaction was analyzed with chemical reactions and diffusion model equations. Analysis shows that the adsorption and/or ion exchange are possible mechanisms and are expressed by a second order reaction model.