A Complete Guide to Zeolite Desiccant: All You Need to Know

Zeolite is a powerful supplement that possesses a healing potential when used properly. There has been a lot of misinformation about Zeolite in the market today, but don’t worry. This article is designed to enlighten you with knowledge on what is zeolite desiccant and how to use zeolite desiccants efficiently. 

Make sure that you select the right zeolite products manufacturer for your application so that you receive high-quality products that are ideal for your application. 

What Is a Desiccant?

A desiccant is a hygroscopic substance which means that it is able to attract water molecules from the surroundings and hold them together. It induces a state of dryness around its surrounding environment. There is a wide range of materials used to remove moisture from a particular space and these materials are commonly called desiccants.

A zeolite dehumidifier has low surface vapor pressure which helps it trap moisture on its surface and release it in vapor form when heated. 

Some of the common characteristics of desiccants include:

• Desiccants can withstand high temperatures and some of them don’t even burn at 1000°C
• It can resist high pressures
• It does not cause any health problems when touched or inhaled
• It does not dissolve in water or any inorganic solvent
• It does not oxidize in air

What Are Zeolites?

Zeolite is a Greek word that is a combination of ‘zeo’ meaning to boil and ‘litos’ meaning stone. It is silica-based volcanic ash that is created over time when the lava from volcanoes reacts with seawater. The forming result is a zeolite which is a strong stone-like structure with a negative charge. It has a high affinity for water and has the ability to absorb and desorb it without changing the structure of the zeolite molecular sieve. 

The characteristic of Zeolites to adsorb and desorb water makes them useful as desiccants. When the Zeolite powder is placed in an area of moisture, it will absorb the moisture up to the saturation point. When the moisture in the area falls below the point of saturation of zeolite, it will release the moisture back into the atmosphere. So, it doesn’t eliminate the moisture but merely holds it.

If you want to eliminate the moisture, you will have to increase the ability of zeolite by regenerating the zeolite and venting the extracted moisture away from the area. So, to sum it up, the zeolite absorbs moisture until it reaches its saturation point. If the humidity levels fall, the zeolite will desorb the moisture till there is a balance with the humidity. 

Different Types of Zeolites Desiccants

There are many different types of desiccates available in the market such as:

• Molecular sieve (Zeolite) 
• Silica gel 
• Activated alumina
• Activated charcoal
• Calcium chloride
• Charcoal sulfate
• Montmorillonite clay

The desiccants serve multiple purposes for example activated charcoal is used for desiccating as well as eliminating odor from the atmosphere. Similarly, silica gel beads come in a variety of moisture indicators that change color when the packet comes in contact with a particular amount of moisture.

Some of the most common desiccants are explained in detail below.

1. Molecular Sieve (Zeolite)

A molecular sieve is a type of material that has very small holes of uniform size. These uniform holes are small enough to block out the large molecules and let the small molecules pass through. Several molecular sieves are used as desiccants by using the process of adsorption. 

Molecular sieve is one of the most preferred choices of desiccants because it has the capacity to dry surfaces to an extremely low level. You can approach molecular sieve manufacturersin China for incredible molecular sieve size options of high quality. 

2. Silica Gel

Silica gel is one of the commonly used desiccators that is a granular form of silicon dioxide created from sodium silicate. Silica gel also works on the principle of adsorption. The moisture in the air is trapped between the tiny passages of silica gel as the air passes through it. The air that passes through the silica gel would be completely free of moisture. 

If you want to reverse the trapping process, you can heat the silica gel to 180°F and it will release the trapped moisture. It is easy to regenerate silica gel than synthetic zeolite powder that regenerates at 550°F. This characteristic is both good and bad because generating heat is fairly easy, but regeneration becomes a problem in industrial applications that want to completely get rid of the moisture in the air. 

3. Activated Alumina

Activated alumina is another one of the most commonly used desiccants that are manufactured from aluminum hydroxide using dehydroxylation. The end result of the dehydroxylation is a highly porous material with a surface area of over 200 square meters. This compound is used as a desiccant and a filter for drinking water.

Activated alumina has a high ratio of surface area to weight because has numerous pores on its surface. The humid air that passes through activated alumina traps the water molecules in its tiny passages. You can reverse the process by heating the alumina to 200°C.

4. Activated Charcoal

Activated Charcoal is used to adsorb the bad odor that is emitted from plastic components and newly dyed clothes. It is used as a desiccant for commercial purposes to remove corrosion and odor-causing gases in small areas. It has the ability to separate gases and liquids because of its immense surface area.

5. Calcium Chloride 

Calcium Chloride desiccant is used to absorb moisture from the air and release it back in the form of vapors when heated. It has the ability to attract water molecules that are several times its own weight. It dissolves the moisture into a liquid brine if the air is humid enough and the temperature is high. The moisture is trapped in a chamber-like area, which prevents it from re-evaporating back into the air.

What Can Zeolite Desiccant Do?

Zeolite is formed as a result of volcanic eruptions and has a negative charge on it. With a negative charge, it attracts positively charged molecules such as water and gases. Zeolite Water purification is commonly used by water filters to trap unwanted molecules. It is used in air purifiers as well to trap harmful substances from the air and release hygienic air back into the atmosphere.

It is also used as a detoxifier for human bodies because our bodies are positively charged and zeolite can trap the toxic elements in our bodies.

Here are a few of the things that zeolite binds to in our bodies to effectively remove them:

Heavy Metals: Heavy metals are toxic in nature and get accumulated in our bodies over time and largely affect our immune system and nervous system. This hinders our natural process of staying healthy. Eventually, our bodies can’t keep up with the excess work such as working out.

It leads to developing symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, irritability, and a lot of other symptoms. Natural zeolite powder helps trap and remove toxic hidden metals such as arsenic and lead, among others in your body. Once those toxic heavy metals are out of your body, you can start functioning at your peak potential again.

Environmental Toxins: There is an unprecedented number of toxic stressors in our daily lives from the air you breathe to the food you eat. Over time, these harmful toxins accumulate in your body and wreak havoc on your health. It will develop adverse effects such as weight gain, weakened immune system, brain fog, and fatigue because of the buildup. Zeolite helps remove these toxins from your body effectively. 

Mold Toxicity: Mold toxicity has become a serious problem in today’s times because of the serious chronic conditions that it causes. Even though you aren’t exposed to mold currently at your house and office, you might have had a previous exposure to mold that has been multiplying in your body. Activated zeolite powder helps detoxify the mold inside your body and remove it completely from your body. 

Radioactive Materials: You must have been exposed to radioactive rays sometime in your life when you get X-rays, CT scans, or Mammograms. These harmful materials stick inside your body and zeolite is a fantastic tool to remove the leftover radiation from your body.

Microbial Pathogens: Zeolite has the capability to bind to a number of pathogens such as Candida and viruses. It has antiviral characteristics because of its potential to attract viral particles. Zeolite is effective against a complete host of viruses that may be present in your body and it can effectively trap them and remove them from your body. 

How Does Zeolite Desiccant Work?

Zeolite is a porous alkaline mineral that possesses a negative charge on it by nature. These pores act as a cage that traps dangerous substances and gently carries them out of the toxified area. Synthetic zeolite powder is widely used to keep products dry by absorbing moisture from the substance using adsorption or chemical reaction. 

Zeolite is available in different forms such as powder, rock, or sieve, and you can select the form that best suits your application. Even though all of them work equally, there are minor differences in their functioning that can make major differences in the application that you are using it for. 

There are three ways in which desiccants remove moisture from the surroundings These three ways are:

1. Absorption: When the desiccant is chemically integrated into the water molecules, it is called absorption.
2. Adsorption: The physical attraction of water or gas molecules to the desiccant without changing the chemical structure is called adsorption.
3. Chemical Reaction: The process that changes the chemical structure of the substance is called a chemical reaction.

Here are the steps that zeolite uses to make substances dry:

1. Zeolite absorbs moisture from the air or the substance into its pores
2. The water molecules get trapped inside the pores and the gas molecules leave out of the pores
3. Moisture is expelled from the zeolite as vapors after heating it
4. The hot air streams move in different directions and the debris moves away from the processed air.

How Does Zeolite Desiccant Work?

Desiccants are commonly used as drying agents in various applications. Zeolite products are greatly used where the rate of evaporation is low because of the high levels of humidity in the surroundings. It helps absorb the extra moisture from the air and keeps the substances dry and hygienic.

Some of the significant applications of zeolite desiccant include:

Transportation of Goods: The zeolite acts as a molecular sieve dryer and is used to keep packaging products dry while shipping them across countries.

Extracting impurities: Zeolite is used for extracting impurities from the air and leaving a fresh and hygienic atmosphere in the area. It also helps eliminate the foul smell in closed areas like basements, garages, and storerooms.

Protection of Domestic Goods: Zeolite is important for the protection of domestic goods such as spices, pulses, and other food items that can easily go bad if they come in contact with moisture. Zeolite packets are often kept inside plastic containers to keep the substances inside them in intact condition.

Preserve Chemicals: Zeolite clinoptilolite powderis widely used to preserve chemicals by preventing them to turn into compounds by coming in contact with water. 

Removing Odor: Zeolite products are widely used in air purifiers to trap odor from the atmosphere in its porous surface and release back moisture-free and hygienic air. 

Conclusion

High-quality zeolite powder is effectively used as a drying agent and a safe detox tool for keeping toxic and unwanted substances away. It is important to use quality zeolite products in proper doses for an optimum result. You can reach out to a reliable zeolite molecular sieve manufacturer and get your zeolite products for your application.