Manufacture of shaped crystalline zeolitic molecular sieve bodies

Claim 1

A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SHAPED POROUS CRYSTALLINE ZEOLITIC MOLECULAR SIEVE ADSORBENT BODIES COMPRISING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING A MIXTURE OF SAID zEOLITIC MOLECULAR SIEVE AND A CLAY MINERAL BINDER; GRANULATING AND INITIALLY FIRING SAID MIXTURE AT A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENTLY HIGH TO SIMULTANEOUSLY DRY SAID CLAY MINERAL BINDER, BIND THE MIXTURE, AND ACTIVATE THE MOLECULAR SIEVE, THE FIRING TEMPERATURE BEING BELOW THAT TEMPERATURE AT WHICH SAID CRYSTALLINE ZEOLITIC MOLECULAR SIEVE IS STRUCTURALLY UNSTABLE; ADDING POWDEROUS SODIUM SILICATE TO THE GRANULAR MOLECULAR SIEVE-CLAY BINDER MIXTURE; ADDING AN AQUEOUS SODIUM SILICATE SOLUTION TO THE ACTIVATED MIXTURE CONTAINING POWDEROUS SODIU, SILICATE, THE ADDITION OF POWDERSOUS AND AQUEOUS SODIUM SILICATE BEING IN QUANTITIES SUCH THAT THE TOTAL SILICATE CONTENT OF THE POROUS MOLECULAR SIEVE BODIES IS BETWEEN ABOUT 9% AND 25% BY WEIGHT AND THE TOTAL MOISTURE CONTENT IS BETWEEN ABOUT 16% AND 20% BY WEIGHT; MIXING SAID AQUEOUS SODIUM SILICATE SOLUTION WITH SAID ACTIVATED MIXTURE FOR SUFFICIENT DURATION SO AS TO FORM A FREE-FLOWING BLEND OF UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED MOLECULAR SIEVE PARTICLES IN A SODIUM SILICATE MATRIX; UNIFORMLY PRESSURIZING AND SHAPING SUCH BLEND FOR SUFFICIENT DURATION TO PROVIDE SAID POROUS CRYSTALLINE ZEOLITIC MOLECULAR SIEVE BODY; AND FINALLY FIRING SUCH BODY AT TEMPERATURES BETWEEN ABOUT 350* AND 650*C.

Claim 2

A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SHAPED POROUS CRYSTALLINE ZEOLITIC MOLECULAR SIEVE ADSORBENT BODIES COMPRISING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING A MIXTURE OF SAID zEOLITIC MOLECULAR SIEVE AND A CLAY MINERAL BINDER; GRANULATING AND INITIALLY FIRING SAID MIXTURE AT A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENTLY HIGH TO SIMULTANEOUSLY DRY SAID CLAY MINERAL BINDER, BIND THE MIXTURE, AND ACTIVATE THE MOLECULAR SIEVE, THE FIRING TEMPERATURE BEING BELOW THAT TEMPERATURE AT WHICH SAID CRYSTALLINE ZEOLITIC MOLECULAR SIEVE IS STRUCTURALLY UNSTABLE; ADDING POWDEROUS SODIUM SILICATE TO THE GRANULAR MOLECULAR SIEVE-CLAY BINDER MIXTURE; ADDING AN AQUEOUS SODIUM SILICATE SOLUTION TO THE ACTIVATED MIXTURE CONTAINING POWDEROUS SODIU, SILICATE, THE ADDITION OF POWDERSOUS AND AQUEOUS SODIUM SILICATE BEING IN QUANTITIES SUCH THAT THE TOTAL SILICATE CONTENT OF THE POROUS MOLECULAR SIEVE BODIES IS BETWEEN ABOUT 9% AND 25% BY WEIGHT AND THE TOTAL MOISTURE CONTENT IS BETWEEN ABOUT 16% AND 20% BY WEIGHT; MIXING SAID AQUEOUS SODIUM SILICATE SOLUTION WITH SAID ACTIVATED MIXTURE FOR SUFFICIENT DURATION SO AS TO FORM A FREE-FLOWING BLEND OF UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED MOLECULAR SIEVE PARTICLES IN A SODIUM SILICATE MATRIX; UNIFORMLY PRESSURIZING AND SHAPING SUCH BLEND FOR SUFFICIENT DURATION TO PROVIDE SAID POROUS CRYSTALLINE ZEOLITIC MOLECULAR SIEVE BODY; AND FINALLY FIRING SUCH BODY AT TEMPERATURES BETWEEN ABOUT 350* AND 650*C.