Percentage Of Oil Removal Research Articles

Oil removal using agricultural wastes adsorbents in a fixed bed column as a pretreatment in RO systems

Oil removal from seawater is an essential pre-treatment in Reverse Osmosis desalination plants to mitigate membrane fouling. The present paper investigates the feasibility of oil removal from water using agricultural wastes as low-cost adsorbents. Three wastes, rice husk, sugarcane bagasse, and sawdust were tested using two types of water, oily seawater and oily distilled water. For comparison, activated carbon adsorbent was included in the tests as a reference case. The experiments were conducted in a fixed bed column (10 cm diameter and 55 cm height), at an initial oil concentration of 1000, 3000, and 5000 mg/L, bed height of 10, 15, and 20 cm, and flow rate of 75, 145, and 290 mL/min. The parametric study indicated that the breakthrough time and the percentage of oil removal increased with the decrease in initial oil concentration and flow rate, but the breakthrough time increases with increasing the bed height. The oil removal percentage using rice husk was higher than sawdust and sugar cane bagasse and it was 18.9 % lower than that of activated carbon. Thus, rice husk can be a cheap alternative to activated carbon. The effect of oil type and water type was not significant. Additionally, the 50 % breakthrough time was 1388 min for activated carbon, 912 min for rice husk, 580 min for sawdust and 421 min for sugar cane bagasse. Assessing the dynamics models indicated that the non-linear forms of the Thomas, Bohart-Adams, and Yoon-and-Nelson kinetic models perform better than their linear forms, and the difference in performance among these models was not so big, i.e., any of these models can be used to predict the breakthrough curve.

Oil content removal from oil water emulsion by super magnetic nanoparticles

Oily wastewater treatment processes are facing challenges due to strict regulations in the quality of effluent standards and waste production. The reuse of oily wastewater treatment effluents is rapidly gaining attention for achieving sustainable water supply. Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are widely applied as super adsorbents in industry. In the present study, the MNP was sprayed and mixed with oil-water emulsion, after the application of a magnetic field, a clear effluent was seen within minutes. The effects of the varying process parameters including, adsorbent dose, particle size, mixing time, American Petroleum Institute gravity (API gravity), pH, temperature, and oil concentration, on the percentage of oil removal and the removal capacity (mg/g) were studied. In this paper, six types of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (A:50 nm, B:15–20 nm, C:3 nm) and functionalized NH2/-COOH (A1:20–30 nm, B1:15–20 nm and C1:3 nm) were used as oil adsorbent. The highest percentage of oil removal was reached at 20 min, using 150 mg/L oil concentration, 100 mg adsorbent dose, room temperature, 28 API, and at 4 pH, and the results were 60 % (A), 72 % (B), 81 % (C), 85 % (A1), 88 % (B1) and 94 % (C1). Functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles exhibited higher reusability than uncoated MNPs (A-C). The results showed that Fe3O4 were highly effective, reusable, and suitable for oil removal from the oil-water emulsion. Kinetic models fit effectively with pseudo-second-order mode, and Freundlich model. This work also matches the research conducted by various researchers for oil removal from oily water using magnetic nanoparticles.

A Comparison between Various Polymeric Membranes for Oily Wastewater Treatment via Membrane Distillation Process.

Oily wastewater (OW) is detrimental towards the environment and human health. The complex composition of OW needs an advanced treatment, such as membrane technology. Membrane distillation (MD) gives the highest rejection percentage of pollutants in wastewater, as the membrane only allows the vapor to pass its microporous membrane. However, the commercial membranes on the market are less efficient in treating OW, as they are prone to fouling. Thus, the best membrane must be identified to treat OW effectively. This study tested and compared the separation performance of different membranes, comparing the pressure-driven performance between the membrane filtration and MD. In this study, several ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes (NFS, NFX, XT, MT, GC and FILMTEC) were tested for their performance in treating OW (100 ppm). The XT and MT membranes (UF membrane) with contact angles of 70.4 ± 0.2° and 69.6 ± 0.26°, respectively, showed the best performance with high flux and oil removal rate. The two membranes were then tested for long-term performance for two hours with 5000 ppm oil concentration using membrane pressure-filtration and MD. The XT membrane displayed a better oil removal percentage of >99%. MD demonstrated a better removal percentage; the flux reduction was high, with average flux reduction of 82% compared to the membrane pressure-filtration method, which experienced a lower flux reduction of 25%. The hydrophilic MT and XT membranes have the tendency to overcome fouling in both methods. However, for the MD method, wetting occurred due to the feed penetrating the membrane pores, causing flux reduction. Therefore, it is important to identify the performance and characteristics of the prepared membrane, including the best membrane treatment method. To ensure that the MD membrane has good anti-fouling and anti-wetting properties, a simple and reliable membrane surface modification technique is required to be explored. The modified dual layer membrane with hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties is expected to produce effective separation in MD for future study.

Eradication of Oil Wastes Using Chempedak Stone Powder as Natural Adsorbent: Study on Adsorbent Dosage and Type of Water Sources Effect

Oil pollution has become a water pollution problem in the world. An eco-friendly adsorbent need to be produced to resolve this problem. This study focuses on removing oil waste using Chempedak Stone (CS) powder as a natural adsorbent. The purpose of the study is to observe the effects of adsorbent dosage and the effects of several type of water sources on adsorbing different types of oils (vegetable oil, lubricant oil and diesel oil). Different adsorbent dosage (treated and untreated) of 0.2g, 0.4g, 0.6g, 0.8g and 1.0g was examined in different types of water which are tap water, sea water and lake water. The treated adsorbent was introduced to 0.5M NaOH and 0.5M nitric acid (HNO3). The CS was collected from a local market and went through several processes to become a powder such as rinsing, drying, crushing and sieving. The results show that the increasing adsorbent dosage decreased the percentage of oil removal. It was proven that the effectiveness of treated and untreated adsorbent depended on the type of oil and the type of water. The highest percentage of oil removal was found using untreated CS powder on vegetable while treated CS powder was effective for adsorbing lubricant oil at the dosage of 0.2g. The results thus showed that untreated CS powder has the most effective adsorbent to adsorb various types of oils on various types of water compared to treated CS powder.

REGRESSION ANALYSIS FOR THE ADSORPTION OF OIL USING HUMAN HAIR AS NATURAL ADSORBENT

The abundance of human hair waste (known as keratin biomass) in most parts of the world and its accumulation in waste streams are causing many environmental problems. Human hair’s potential as a natural adsorbent to remove oil from wastewater was emphasised in this study. Mathematical and deep learning approaches were adopted to develop the regression models of oil adsorption using gents and ladies’ hair wastes. The experimental results were obtained from literature review to perform regression analysis using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) in Matlab, Microsoft Excel, and Design Expert 6.0.6. The efficiency of these tools was compared in predicting the oil removal percentage within a specified range of adsorption parameters. This was done by comparing the R2 value of the established adsorption models. In this study, the effect of different adsorption parameters, namely pH, contact time, and adsorbent dosage, on the oil removal percentage was included in the regression analysis. Subsequently, using the regression model with the highest R2 valuefor both gents and ladies’ hair adsorbent, a graphical user interface (GUI) was developed for the oil adsorption process to ease users in predicting the oil removal percentage within the specified range of adsorption parameters. The results showed that the adsorption model with the highest R2 value of 0.9570 for gents hair and 0.9650 for ladies hair was developed using the ANN tool, implying its superiority in correlating the adsorption parameters to the oil removal percentage. However, in creating the GUI layout for the oil adsorption process, the regression model generated by the RSM regression tool (the second-highest R2 at 0.8290 for gents hair and 0.6158 for ladies hair) was adopted to the limitations in retrieving the regression model from the ANN tool. The outcome of this study is expected to benefit users without prior knowledge of the oil adsorption process using human hair adsorbent to predict the removal percentage within a specified range of adsorption parameters, without the hassle of conducting experimental work.
 Keywords: Human hair waste, keratin biomass, regression, oil adsorption, graphical user interface

Raw and acetylated Sugarcane Bagasse (Saccharum officinarum) and Rubber wood (Hevea brasiliensis) in oil spill sorption at Pantai Kuala Perlis

In this research, raw and modified (acetylated) sugarcane bagasse (SGB) (Saccharum officinarum) and rubber wood (RB) (Hevea brasiliensis) were used as sorbents in oil sorption to absorb the used oil in the seawater sample at Pantai Kuala Perlis. The research is done using different time which are 5, 10 and 15 minutes with different thickness of oil layer which are 10 and 20 ml, using 2 g of sorbents. In the percentage of oil removal and oil sorption capacity, 15 minutes was chosen as optimum adsorption time and 10 ml as optimum oil thickness. In term of effect of adsorption time, for overall results, the longer the adsorption time, the higher the sorption capacity and percentage removal of oil. Meanwhile, in term of effect of oil layer thickness, the lower the thickness of oil layer, the higher the sorption capacity and percentage removal. For Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), the spectroscopic data shown that both modified SGB and RB had O-H, CH3 and C=O functional group at the range of 3000-3500, 2500-3000 and 1500-2000 cm-1 respectively. These shown that modified RGB and RB had successfully synthesized. For salinity test, there were no significance different between the initial salinity and after-adsorption salinity of the seawater sample.

The effectiveness to cleanup oil spills from the water environment of the combined sorbent on the basic of PUF and chitin

This study provides information about evaluating the parameters (density, buoyancy, sorption capacity) of a combined oil sorbent based on polyurethane foam filled with chitin (PPU10M). In comparison with the original chitin, the developed sorbent has better buoyancy, and commensurate with the pure polyurethane foam (PUF). The effect of the contact time, the type of the water, the thickness of the oil layer and the adsorbent dosage are studied. The results show that the optimal contact time of the sorption process is 60 minutes. In which, the oil capacity of the sorbent PPU10M in artificial seawater reaches 13.6 g/g and in artificial river water 13.2 g/g. The sorbent dose depends on the thickness of the oil layer on the water surface. For a thin oil layer, the use of 1g of adsorbent reaches higher oil capacity but the oil removal percentage lower in comparison to the dose of 2g sorbent. For an oil layer thickness equal to or greater than the height of the sorbent cube, the efficiency of oil removal is observed better when using 2g of sorbents. Thus, it is considered that the use of 2g sorbents is optimal. A generalization of the research results indicates the prospects of the developed combined sorbent based on chitin and polyurethane for oil spill treatment.

The preliminary study of oil removal using lemon peel waste

While the discovery of oil contributes a lot towards a country’s economy and technological development, it is also the cause for oil pollution. As such, this study proposes to use lemon peel waste as a low-cost adsorbent to manage oil pollution. For the untreated adsorbent, the lemon peels were cut into small pieces and dried under sunlight for 48 hours. Then, it was further dried in an oven for 24 hours and ground into powder. For the treated adsorbent, the lemon peels were soaked in 0.5 M of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. The adsorbent was used to adsorb different types of oil (diesel oil, lubricant oil, waste vegetable oil) and in different types of water (ocean water, lake water, tap water) with different amounts of adsorbent which is 0.2 g, 0.4 g, 0.6 g, 0.8 g, and 1.0 g for adsorbent dosage experiment. While for types of water experiment, a ratio for volume of water and oil of 3:1, and constant mass adsorbent was used. The result showed that untreated adsorbent can adsorb higher amount of oils than treated adsorbent. The oil that could be easily adsorbed using lemon peels adsorbent is diesel oil with 89.91% adsorption. For the types of water, the result changes according to different types of water and oil used. It was found that the higher the mass adsorbent, the lower the percentage of oil removal. The highest percentage of diesel oil removed in ocean water is 81.68%. While the removal of lubricant oil and waste vegetable oil in lake water is 66.6% and 72.13%, respectively. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) shows that treated lemon peels had small pores compared to untreated lemon peel waste. This study demonstrated and proposed that the lemon peel waste has a good potential in low-cost oil waste removal.

Treatment of Industrial Oily Effluent Using a Biossurfactant from Pseudomonas Cepacia Cct6659 as an Alternative Collector in a Bench Scale-induced Saturation Tower

The increase in activities related to the oil and electric power sector are mainly responsible for the production of oily waters and their disposal, requiring treatment strategies and separation of these wastes. For the treatment of oily water, flotation technology employing air microbubbles for contaminant saturation can be employed efficiently. Chemical surfactants are applied as collectors for separation of suspended oil particles. Biosurfactants biodegradable and non-toxic, stand out as alternative collectors in the treatment of industrial effluents replacing synthetic and toxic surfactants. The present work aims to present an efficient solution through the of an innovative induced-air microbubble flotation prototype configured in a Stage Induced Saturation Tower (IST), in bench scale. This technology emerges as a more efficient and economical solution for the treatment of industrial wastewater using biosurfactants as collectors because they are biodegradable and have reduced toxicity. In this sense, the potential of the biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas cepacia CCT6659 as an alternative collector in the treatment of an oily effluent from a thermoelectric plant was evaluated. Comparative tests were performed using the proposed biosurfactant, a cationic polymer, a synthetic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate) and a commercial rhamnolipid classified biosurfactant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The tests were performed in the new system after homogenization between surfactant / effluent. The sample was fed at the top of the Tower and successively interacted with upward streams of air microbubbles at different stages. Samples of treated effluent were collected to evaluate the percentage of oil removal by spectrophotometry. The most significant results of the surfactant activities of the biosurfactant produced were: surface tension of 26 mN / m, emulsification capacity of 98.72% and dispersion action of approximately 86.00%. The IST system, with the action of microbubbles alone, achieved a 75.00% oil removal. The high efficiency of water / oil separation by P. cepacia biosurfactant compared to the collectors was proven from the removal of 97.49% of oil contained in the industrial effluent. Therefore, the potential of this surfactant agent as an alternative collector in an induced saturation flotation system proved helps to reduce the environmental impacts caused by industrial plants.

The potential of using microalgae for simultaneous oil removal in wastewater and lipid production

Microalgae have received considerable attention in recent years due to their significant potential in contaminants removal from wastewater and can be used as a sustainable feedstock for biofuel production. However, existing researches on microalgae are mainly focused on inorganic nutrients (i.e., nitrogen and phosphorus) removal, while oil as one of the major pollutant classes has been lack of study. Therefore, the present work was aimed to use microalgae to remove oil in wastewater and for simultaneous lipid production. In this study, variables such as ozone flowrate, oil concentration, amount of microalgae seeds and cultivation pH value were introduced to optimize the oil removal efficiency and lipid yield. The optimized parameters that resulted the highest oil removal percentage (41.56%) were as follows: 0.4 L/min of ozone flowrate, 3 mL/L of oil concentration, 200 mL/L of microalgae seeds and cultivation pH value of 3 to 5. Under this condition, the lipid content embedded within the microalgae cells was 41.5% and mainly consisted of unsaturated fatty acids. The present results affirmed the capability of microalgae to remove oil from wastewater and could produce higher lipid yield from the metabolized oil.

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

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.

A Comparison Study of Carbonized Kapok Fibres Treated by Sodium Hydroxide Solution and Hydrochloric Acid Solution as an Absorbent in Removing Oil Waste

Hydrophobic-oleophilic properties of Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) fibre enables it to show good oil absorption capacity. In this study, Kapok fibre was treated with two types of solvent which is Hydrochloric acid solution (HCl) and Sodium Hydroxide solution (NaOH). Both solutions function to remove lignin, pectin and wax that surrounds the outer surface of Kapok fibre. To achieve its carbonized properties, both samples of Kapok fibre were burned in a furnace at 450°C for approximately an hour. By doing this, it was found that activation time between carbonized Kapok fibre porosity shows a positive result, thus enhancing the capability of Kapok fibre as an absorbent. Absorption rate of two samples of Kapok fibre which is NaOH-treated Kapok fibre and HCl-treated Kapok fibre were evaluated on different types of oils which are diesel, lubricant oil, petrol and used vegetable oil. Mass used for each absorbent samples differ by using 0.2 g, 0.4 g, 0.6 g, 0.8 g and 1.0 g respectively. Dosage reusability and percentage of oil removal were examined for this two samples of absorbent. From the dosage reusability experiment it showed that both carbonized Kapok fibre can absorbed the oil after six cycle of using the same absorbent dosage. Meanwhile, the absorption oil experiment showed that HCl-treated Kapok fibre higher than NaOH- treated Kapok fibre. It is proven that HCL-treated Kapok fibre can perform better compared to NaOH-treated Kapok fibre.

Chemical Oxidation for Oil Separation from Oilfield Produced Water under UV Irradiation Using Titanium Dioxide as a Nano-Photocatalyst by Batch and Continuous Techniques

This research describes the photocatalytic design for oil removal from produced water. It involves batch and continuous processes. The photocatalytic degradation of oil has been conducted in glass reactors. The effects of nano-TiO2 concentration, the number of lamps, and the time of radiation were studied in the batch system, while in the continuous treatment, the number of lamps, the direction of light radiation, and the time of processes were studied. The results showed that all the oil was removed in the batch system and the maximum percentage of oil removal was 71% in the continuous system.

Synthesis, Characterization and Evaluation of Organophilic Bofe Clay for Use in the Removal of Oil Effluents

This objective of this study was to produce organoclay, analyze it, and evaluate its use in the process of removing oil emulsion from an oil–water system. The organoclay was prepared by the direct method and was characterized using X-ray diffraction, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), and Infrared Spectroscopy (IV). A finite bath system was used to evaluate the effects on the removal capacity, using a stirring speed (A) of between 100 and 300 rpm and an initial concentration of oil-water solution (C0) evaluated in the range of 100 to 500 mg/L. The XRD and infrared results indicated that CTAC was intercalated between the layers of Bofe clay. The percentage of oil removal from oil-in-water emulsions was between 55.99 and 96.62%. These results indicate that OC can potentially remove up to 97% oil from oil-in-water emulsions. Consequently, the OC could be considered an excellent medium for treating oily water.

SBA-15 MOLECULAR SIEVE: SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND APPLICATION IN OIL/WATER SEPARATION

This work evaluates the use of molecular sieve SBA-15 as adsorbent in oil removal process. The synthesis and characterization tests used X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), physical N2 adsorption, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), adsorption capacity in organic solvents (gasoline, kerosene, and diesel oil), and Foster Swelling. Following, this work performed the evaluation of SBA-15 as adsorbent in the process of removing oil from a synthetic effluent, through the finite bath system (Batch adsorption). Finite bath system tests used a factorial 22 experimental design with three experiments at the central point. At that stage, two variables were evaluated: initial oil concentration (100, 300, and 500 mg /L) and mechanical agitation (100, 200, and 300 rpm). Through the experiments, it was possible to observe the following response variables: percentage of total removal (% Rem) and removal capacity in equilibrium (qeq). For comparison level, the experiments also evaluated response variables for the tests without mechanical agitation. Characterization techniques (DRX, EDX, SEM, Physical N2 Adsorption) presented results compatible with the characteristics presented by mesoporous materials. Foster Swell tests confirmed the affinity of SBA-15 molecular sieve with the organic solvents used: gasoline, kerosene, and diesel oil. The testing system determined both finite bath oil removal percentage (% Rem) 97.04%, and removal capacity at equilibrium (qeq) of 48.58 mg /g, indicating that the use of SBA-15 molecular sieve is a viable option in the oil removal process.

Enhanced Oily Sludge Dewatering using Plant-Based Surfactant Technology

Abstract Surfactant technology is recognized as potential treatment method that can be used to enhance sludge dewatering process. This study was designed to investigate the potential of cationic plant-based esterquat (PBE) surfactant in removal of oil and enhance the dewatering of oily sludge. The effect of PBE concentration was investigated based on percentage of oil removal and weight loss of oily sludge. FTIR spectra confirms the loss of treated oily sludge transmission peak at 1636.11 cm-1 was due to the solubilization of oil into PBE surfactant solution. Results shows that the best condition for the percentage of oil removal and weight loss of oily sludge were 83.75% and 81.31%, respectively at PBE concentration of 100 mg/L. It was observed that the PBE surfactant was greatly enhanced the oily sludge dewatering process.

Antibacterial blend polyvinylidene fluoride/polyethyleneimine membranes for salty oil emulsion separation

Polyvinylidene fluoride/polyethyleneimine (PVDF/PEI) membranes were prepared using the phase inversion technique for oil separation. The membranes were described by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer, contact angle, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and mechanical properties. The membrane performance was tested using a synthetic emulsion solution of different percentages of oil and real salty emulsion oil from the Gulf of Suez Petroleum field. The results indicate that using M3 (0.5% wt PEI) provides the highest oil removal percentage (95% at 0.1 g oil/L). While, M5 (0.9% wt PEI) provides highest permeate flux (180 L/m2 h at 0.1 g oil/L). Increasing PEI blending percentage leads to increase in the membranes hydrophilicity and decrease in membrane contact angle. Blending with PEI enhances the mechanical properties of prepared membranes. Bacteria removal test was applied on prepared membranes, where the results indicate that M3 (0.5% wt PEI) and M4 (0.7% wt PEI) present highest removal percentage for coliform bacteria. Fouling test was applied on M1 (bare PVDF) and M3 (0.5% wt PEI) which indicates that flux recovery reached 98% using M3 (0.5% wt PEI) with very low irreversible resistance 0.93%.

Evaluation of the hydrodynamics generated by agitation and electromagnetic field during the electrocoagulation of oil/water emulsion

The performance of breaking oil/water emulsions using the electrocoagulation technique in the presence of a magnetic stirrer or an electromagnetic field (EMF) is reported. A batch electrochemical cell has been used with a simulated oil/water emulsion. Here, a vertical, flat plate Fe anode and stainless steel (SS) cathode were used in an array style. In this study, the effect of the rotation speed and the intensity of the electromagnetic field have been investigated. The main reason is to compare the effect of the hydrodynamic and the magneto hydrodynamic on breaking the oil/water emulsion. Results indicated that the hydrodynamic effect enhanced the removal rate of oil to some extent, and considerably reduced the energy consumption per each kg of oil removed (from 2.36 kW h/kgoil at 0 rpm to 1.46 kW h/kgoil at 300 rpm). Moreover, experiments also indicated that the application of electromagnetic field enhanced the oil separation in a relatively same manner. The best position of electromagnetic field is under the electrodes, where the corresponding arbitrary direction of the magnetic flux intensity is parallel to the surface of the electrodes. During the same time interval, the EMF enhances the oil removal percentage to be 94.8% compared to 72.4% without it. Accordingly, the application of the electromagnetic field in a continuous process would enhance the oil separation at relatively same power consumption.

Application of guar gum in brine clarification and oily water treatment

The increasing amount of oil wastewater is causing serious damage to the environment. Oily water is a worrisome by-product of the oil industry due to its growing volume in mature basins and complex chemical composition. Low-cost polymers are being used as alternative materials to treat oily waters after treatment by conventional methods, oil and grease (O&G) concentration being the primary parameter for final disposal. In this respect, guar gum can be used to treat petroleum-contaminated waters, with the advantage of being a low-cost, highly-hydrophilic natural polymer. In this study, guar gum, under specific conditions, shapes itself into three-dimensional structures with interesting physicochemical properties. The salting out effect occurs with reticulation of the polymeric chains by borate ions and in the presence of electrolytes, reducing the solubility of the polymeric network in the solution and leading to an electrolyte- and polymer-rich phase. When the guar gum gel was prepared in situ in the produced water, after the salting out effect, the oil was imprisoned in the interstices of the collapsed gel. The gelling guar gum was highly efficient in synthetic oily waters. In the case of initial O&G above 100ppm, the oil removal percentage was above 90%.

Study of the Effectiveness of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle in Polyethersulfone (PES) Composite Membrane for Removal of Oil in Oily Wastewater

Polyethersulfone/Titanium oxide (PES/TiO2) composite membranes at various compositions of TiO2 nanoparticle (0, 0.1 and 0.5 wt. %) were prepared via phase inversion method. The prepared composite membranes were then tested for degradation process and separation process for oily wastewater. It was found that the addition of TiO2 that possess visible-light response activity led to an improvement of the membrane performances especially in photocatalytic activities. The membrane performances were also investigated by using liquid separation system in order to obtain the flux/permeation rate and also the percentage of oil removal by the membranes. The results indicate that the increment the amount of TiO2 nanoparticle in the composite membrane reduced the permeation flux. Further study has been made by characterizing the membranes in terms of contact angle, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The characterization results indicate that the TiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly mixed in the membrane. The increased of membrane hydrophilicity was demonstrated by the contact angle measurement. By adding TiO2, the membrane hydrophilicity was observed to be better than the neat PES composite membrane. Cross sectional images from FESEM also indicate that the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles help in increasing the macro-void of the membranes. Finally, a comparison between neat PES membrane and PES/TiO2 nanoparticle membrane proved that addition of TiO2 nanoparticle can be one of the ways to maximize the removal of oil.