Effects of Fluxing Agents on Filter Aids Prepared from Lam-Dong Diatomate

Mai Thanh Phong (Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Str., Dist. 10, Ho Chi Minh City.)
Tran Duy Hai (Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Str., Dist. 10, Ho Chi Minh City.)
Phan Dinh Tuan (Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Str., Dist. 10, Ho Chi Minh City.)

ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering
Vol 12, No 2 (2012)

Diatomite (or kieselguhr) is deposit of skeletal remains of single-cell water plants (diatom algae). Diatomite can be used as raw materials for production of several products, such as filter aids, fire-bricks, adsorbents, etc. Two major deposits of diatomite in Vietnam are in Phu-Yen and Lam-Dong province. This study aims to study preparation of filter aids from Lam-Dong diatomite. Especially, the study focused on investigating effects of fluxing agents on quality of filter aids. Physic-chemical properties of the filter aids were determined by using X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, scanning electron microscope and instrumentally measured color coordinates. Results of beer filtration were also presented in this paper. The obtained results proved that Lam-Dong diatomite can be used to manufacture standard filter aids for beer filtration.