Gas adsorption on highly-purified magnesium oxide
No Thumbnail Available
Meeting name
Sponsors
Date
Journal Title
Format
Thesis
Abstract
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] As one of the most commonly used materials, magnesium oxide (also known as magnesia or MgO) has many applications in the modern world because it is light, chemically stable, and free of toxic impurities. In order to remove the remaining impurities that may affect its physical properties, a classic purification process, known as the Pattinson process, was investigated to purify low purity magnesia . The variations in the physical properties of magnesia powder purified by this process, followed by calcination at varying temperatures and times, were examined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). The highly-purified magnesia was then tested as a gas sorbent for its high adsorption capacity, mechanical strength, and low-cost regenerability. The magnesia sorbent was found to be capable of removing neutral substances like N_2 and I_2, as confirmed using Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). Purity tests show that different purification conditions only lead to different solubility, while the calcination conditions determine its iodine capacity values. However, the magnesia is incapable of adsorbing xenon, and it was minimally adsorbent of ? CO?_2, without the addition of a reaction promoter. The iodine adsorption capability gives another potential application in the field of nuclear reactor design. Due to magnesia helping regulate the location of iodine, the precursor of a well-known neutron poison, xenon, it may help diminish the xenon oscillation and shorten the shutdown time for nuclear reactors. By controlling the preparation conditions, magnesia can become a promising material for iodine contamination removal.
Table of Contents
DOI
PubMed ID
Degree
M.S.
Thesis Department
Rights
Access is limited to the campuses of the University of Missouri.