- #1
Strange_matter
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- TL;DR Summary
- I had the idea of concentrating calcium bicarbonate using zeolite, but I believe the calcium ions would be exchanged with ions in the zeolite, enlarging the pores.
I want to increase the concentration of an aqueous calcium bicarbonate solution and have considered using 3A zeolite molecular sieves. I believe such zeolite uses potassium ions to make their pores smaller and is capable of exchanging the potassium for calcium, which I believe would make the pores large enough for the bicarbonate to enter. Are there any cations of sufficient size and charge that could be used to replace the potassium and inhibit calcium exchange? Are there any other types of molecular sieves that would be able to absorb just water from such a solution? I might wind up using a reverse osmosis membrane if this is not tenable, but I want to know if this might be feasible.