Our big advantage!
Absorption + Encapsulation
Zorbent® retains 99.9% of volatile compounds absorbed for “20 years or more” in EPA-certified testing.
Zorbent® passed the EPA’s rigorous test for leachability, known as the TCLP Test (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure), with flying colors. Zorbent® was proven to retain 99.9% of the seven Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) tested and 99.8% of the remaining liquids in the EPA’s designed TCLP Test, simulating a 20-year decomposition process in a landfill. The rest is history, as the US Department of Energy selected Zorbent® to be used in the remediation and reclamation of the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Facility near Denver, CO. Rocky Flats was returned to public use in 2018 when it was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a model for reuse of contaminated land. Rocky Flats also won the National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse award while becoming the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge.
Zorbent® has since gained many admirers, as our nation’s postal service, the world’s largest transportation and logistics provider, leading environmental remediation firms, integrated energy companies and operators in manufacturing, health care, education, food service and emergency response, have selected Zorbent® as their preferred choice for spill management and clean up.
See below results.
Russ Jensen, Chief Scientific Officer | Zorbent LLC | January 2023
ZORBENT® AND ABSORPTION | WHITE PAPER
Zorbent is an ultra lightweight, super fast, super absorbent. The absorbent part of Zorbent is amorphous silicon dioxide powder. Silicon dioxide occurs widely throughout the world as quartz, sand, and in many other forms. It is widely used today in applications from construction to toothpaste.
Zorbent is Safe
Zorbent was originally developed to assist in the clean-up of plutonium-contaminated water at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Arsenal Site in Colorado. The product needed to be environmentally safe, non-toxic, non-hazardous and non-irritating. Winds spreading of contaminated materials was a problem, so Zorbent was developed with a potent dust suppressant technology when used properly. This improved its safety, ease of use and effectiveness in real environments.
How Zorbent Absorbs
Physical absorption is a process whereby molecules are physically attracted to each other, but do not chemically combine. These interactions occur between negative and positive sections of different molecules. With amorphous silicon dioxide, its electron pairs(negative component) are attracted to proton covalent bonds in liquids (positive component). These polar bonds are weaker than chemical bonds (ionic or covalent), and they are similar to the hydrogen bonds that form ice from water. Amorphous silicon dioxide is not only a stable inorganic material, but it is also an ideal absorbent as it attracts both polar molecules (water) and non-polar molecules (oil) with these intermolecular polar interactions. Absorption itself occurs throughout the absorbent, not just on the surface. Amorphous silicon dioxide creates many polar bonds that create strong encasement properties—holding onto the absorbed materials absorbed for a long time. Zorbent has undergone the EPA TCLP test for leachability showing a very high retention of absorbed materials–99.7% after 20 years in a landfill. It has been an excellent choice to prevent seepage of dangerous disposed substances.
Zorbent® is Fast
Although liquid absorption occurs throughout a material, the process starts at the surface. For this reason, absorption occurs fastest and most efficiently when an absorbent’s surface area is maximized. For this reason, fast and efficient absorption is a surface area phenomena. The amorphous silicon dioxide used in Zorbent is the unexpanded co-product of manufacturing agricultural grade perlite. Called perlite fines, this amorphous silicon dioxide material is very fine and powdery. Because the surface area to volume ratio is greatest for the smallest of particles, these perlite fines have a huge surface-area-to-weight ratio, and have outstanding absorbent qualities.
Zorbent is Dust-Free
The fine, powdery quality of perlite fines makes it a top choice for absorbents, but that very quality also creates a significant issue of dust. Dust self-disperses from the area of focus, and creates a cleaning and contamination problem in itself. Zorbent employs a proprietary dust suppressant technology that mitigates the issue of dust getting everywhere it should not be. Zorbent has a very fine granularity as the particles slightly clump together. When applied to (sprinkled on) a spill there is little to no dust. If air movement is present, apply Zorbent closer to the spill, not giving it a chance to blow around. Zorbent will start to work immediately, but for full effect Zorbent should be worked into the spill with a brush or broom. This action crushes the granules back into a powder, the powder absorbs the liquid, and granules reform as the liquid is encased in the amorphous silicon dioxide. The liquid can now be removed as a solid. Notice, this is done with only Zorbent physically touching the liquid. Some amorphous silicon dioxide based absorbents try to suppress the dust by adding a liquid (water) to granulate the amorphous silica. But, they are almost twice as heavy as Zorbent, and can not absorb as much additional liquid. A manufacturer of clay absorbents realized they had a dust problem, and released a new product that had air blown through it to reduce its dust. Thus, Zorbent is lighter and has more absorbent capacity.
Zorbent is Reusable to Saturation
Because Zorbent is so light and absorbent, usually more is applied to the spill than necessary. However, applying more material can make the spill faster and easier to cleanup. But, depending on the spill, the partially saturated Zorbent can be re-used to full saturation. This is usually accomplished by keeping it nearby in a bucket or barrel. When needed, a quantity is scooped onto the spill, worked in, and then returned to the bucket after sweeping it up. The used quantity is then blended into the unused portion in the barrel, to be applied again. When the ability to absorb more is gone, it is disposed of according to the regulations of the liquid absorbed. Of course, hazardous materials, body fluids, and the like are not candidates for Zorbent® re-use. The low volume/lightweight aspects of Zorbent® facilitate this re-useability. Clay and organic absorbents are much heavier and bulkier, and are not good candidates for the reusability described above.
Disposal and Landfills
Zorbent's encasement properties are outstanding, with EPA TCLP leachability test results showing 99.7% retention after a simulated 20 years in a landfill. But Zorbent also addresses two other key disposal issues: disposal costs and landfill footprint. With its light weight and high absorption, our performance testing shows that a six pound (one cubic foot) bag of Zorbent performs the same task as ninety pounds of clay. This means that Zorbent has not only a huge (fifteen times) advantage in disposal costs, it also takes up fifteen times less landfill space. All with the insurance of minimizing any seepage that could occur.
Conclusion
In this short paper I have illustrated the process of absorption, and how Zorbent has ideal absorption characteristics that make it safe, fast, environmentally friendly, and cost effective.
Zorbent White Paper | 855-ZORBENT (855-967-2368) | www.Zorbent.com
