The U se of P lant B ased S urfactant in R emoval of O il from O ily S ludge via T hermochemical C leaning M ethod

Abstract

The conventional physical treatment technologies is difficult to dewater most of water content in oily sludge during sludge dewatering process. Oily sludge removal by using surfactant via thermochemical cleaning method is recognized as one of potential method used to enhance the performance of sludge dewatering process. This study was designed to investigate the performance of anionic and cationic plant-based surfactant in removal of oil and enhance the dewatering of oily sludge. The characterization study of raw oily sludge, PBE and SLSA and those treated with PBE and SLSA surfactants were performed via TGA and FTIR. The effect of surfactant concentration was investigated based on percentage of oil removal. FTIR spectra confirms the loss of transmission peak at 1636.11 cm-1 for treated oily sludge due to the loss of oil via solubilization of oil from oily sludge into surfactant solution. Results shows that the best condition for the percentage of oil removal when using PBE and SLSA surfactants was 84.3% and 67.6%, respectively at PBE and SLSA concentration of 50 mg/L and 100 mg/L. It was observed that SLSA and PBE surfactants has potential to remove oil from oily sludge and subsequently contributed to enhance the oily sludge dewatering process.