Abstract
<jats:p>In this study, the acid activation process of the bentonite clay, which was conducted for producing a bleaching sorbent for the oil and fat industry, was mathematically analyzed. Increase in SiO₂ content under different concentrations of HCl was analyzed using the different mathematical models. During acid activation, increasing the acid concentration from 5% to 20% resulted in an increase in the SiO₂ content from 61.94% to 65.12%. During the activation process, a moderate increase in HCl concentration caused the improvement of the sorption properties of the clay by dissolving some components and restructuring the active sites. An excessive increase in the concentration of HCl leads to degradation of the mineral structure and partial breakdown of the silica framework, which negatively influences sorption performance. Analysis of the obtained results using the different mathematical approaches showed that an increase in SiO₂ content during activation corresponds fully to a linear model. According to this, a linear model was described by the equation y = 60.785 + 0.2088·X. Accuracy of the results obtained from the linear equation was confirmed by a coefficient of determination, R² = 0.9845, indicating a high accordance with the experimental data. This model mathematically predicts the increase in SiO₂ content and proves that the activation process proceeds as a linear function. A mathematical approach to the activation process enables one to calculate in advance the properties of sorption of the clay, to reduce the consumption of acid and water, and to calculate the eventual demands of other reagents.</jats:p>