Malai A.S., Macheca A.D., Cumbane A.J., 2020, The Use of Mozambican Bentonite in Edible Oil Refining: Characterization, Acid Activation and Performance Evaluation, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 81, 247-252.
The suitability of acid-activated Mozambican white bentonite from Boane district as oil bleaching agent was investigated. The focus was given on the performance of the activated clays on colour removal. The clay effectively removed colour pigments when used to bleach neutral soybean oil and, generated oils comparable in terms of colour with those bleached with commercial clays used in the study. The degree of colour removal was found to be closely dependent on the concentration of the acid and the activation temperature. The colour reduction increased from 76.94 % (for natural clay) to 99.24 and 99.99 % for clays modified with HCl and H2SO4 as their concentrations and temperatures used for activation varied from 2 to 4 mol/L and 80 to 100 °C.
