Nitrogen separation from natural gas by modified clinoptilolite

Abstract Separation of nitrogen, the major impurity of natural gas, is necessary for quality improvement of the gas. In this study, purified and some ion-exchanged forms of clinoptilolite were used to separate N 2 from natural gas. Competitive adsorption of mixtures of N 2 , CH 4 and C 2 H 6 by Cu 2+ (Cu-Cp)-, Zn 2+ (Zn-Cp)-, Ni 2+ (Ni-Cp)- and Mn 2+ (Mn-Cp)-exchanged samples was studied at different pressures and ambient temperature. Among the cations studied, Cu 2+ has the lowest selectivity towards N 2 . Samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, BET N 2 adsorption and wet chemical analysis techniques.