Clays from the Santa Elena Peninsula, south-east of the Ecuador coast, were investigated with a view to identifying their main mineralogical, physical, chemical and textural characteristics as well as their potential for industrial use as adsorbents. Identified as calcic bentonites, two representative samples from the Tosagua Formation (Oligocene to Lower Miocene) were selected for acid activation trials. The selection criterion was based on the greatest amount of clay fraction (<2 m fraction) associated with the greatest content of montmorillonite. for the activation treatments, hcl and h2so4 solutions of 4, 6 and 8 n were used in a stirred glass reaction vessel with the clay sample under reflux during four hours at temperatures of 70c for hcl and 85c for h2so4._x000d_>
Mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical analysis by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), differential and gravimetric thermal analysis and measures of density, surface area and porosity indicated the changes occurred in the crystal structure of the montmorillonite._x000D_
The acid treated clays were utilised in trials of purification and decolourisation of soybean vegetable oil in a ratio of 2:100 (clay/oil) at 90C for 30 min, under constant stirring. After centrifugation of the suspension, the wavelength of the bleached oil was measured by UV-visible spectrophotometer and the bleaching capacity of the clays was determined. The best bleaching capacity of the samples was obtained with 6 N H2SO4 acid-activated clays. The bleaching capacity was compared to Tonsil, a commercial acid-activated clay and similar results between them evidenced the potential industrial application of the Ecuadorian clays to bleaching of vegetable oil.