This document is an expanded abstract.
Summary
Superhydrophilic materials are of great advantages in the case of oily mixture filtration process. In this study, natural sand particles were characterized and tested for oil in water emulsion separation. The sand particles were characterized using standard instruments and based on which the separation mechanisms were proposed. Wettability of the natural sands was checked through WCA and underwater OCA measurements. The top surface morphology of was characterized with SEM (scanning electron microscope). Separation efficiency was evaluated by testing Reduction of Turbidity and Rejection of Total Organic Carbon. Experimental results revealed that: 1) The naturally available cleaned sands show superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity; 2) Porous Sands bed could realize even higher separation efficiency than commercial PES and Nitrocellulose microfiltration membranes, with rejection of total organic carbon higher than 90% for Dodecane in water Emulsion, higher than 99% for Hexane in water emulsions.
Introduction
The Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)/Oil Refinery produce huge amount of process water, with oil droplets of different sizes (Oil in Water, or O/W emulsions). Offshore oil spillage event also produce large quantity of oily waste water. Worldwide stringent legislations set discharge limit at (~15-40 mg-oil/L) subject to local legislations. O/W emulsions are thermodynamically stable, can not be efficiently separated by conventional technologies such as gravity/mechanical or simple filtration process. Therefore efficient and economical separation of O/W emulsions constitutes a great challenge for Chemical Engineers [1,2].
Superhydrophilic materials are of great advantages in case of oily mixture filtration process. In this study, natural sand particles were characterized and tested for oil in water emulsion separation. The sand particles were characterized using standard instruments and based on which the separation mechanisms were proposed. Wettability of the natural sands was checked through WCA and underwater OCA measurements.
