Ecc International Limited

Nicholas John Wilshaw

Keith Robert Rogan

Jonathan Andrew Hearle

Mathew Thomas Rundle

A granular material for the sorption of organic material comprises granules of an inorganic silicon-containing material having negatively charged sites and having an average granule size of at least 50 microns, the granules being porous and coated on their outer and inner surfaces with a film of an organic polymeric material having polar and non-polar moieties. The organic polymeric material may form from 0.25% to 10% by weight of the weight of the inorganic material. The granular material may be prepared by treating an aqueous suspension of the inorganic material with a material comprising the organic polymeric material. The inorganic silicon-containing material may comprise a silicate, eg. an aluminosilicate, eg. a kandite and/or smectite clay which may be a foamed material which has been calcined. The polymeric material may comprise a nitrogen-containing polymer which can be employed in the form of an acid colloidal medium, eg. a melamine-aldehyde polymer.

Granular materials comprising inorganic silicon-containing material

A ceramic particulate material which comprises particles having an irregular three dimensional surface profile having jagged projections and a median particle diameter of 200 micrometers or less, the particles being fractals produced by comminution of foamed ceramic material. The material may be such that in a sphere of rotation of the particle, from 30% to 80% of the volume of the sphere is void, the remainder being continuous solid material. The material may be produced by a process which includes providing a suspension of ceramic forming particles e.g., of an aluminosilicate such as clay, in a liquid medium; incorporating a gas in the liquid medium before or after formation of the suspension therein to produce a foamed suspension; extruding the foamed suspension; optionally drying the extrudate formed thereby; calcining the extrudate; and comminuting the calcined material, e.g. by crushing. The material may be used as a substitute for diatomite.

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Cornwall, United Kingdom

Nicholas John Wilshaw