Sorption of Petroleum Products from Aqueous Solutions and Emulsions Using Disperse and Fibrous Materials

Abstract

Water-soluble and emulsified petroleum products were removed from water using ultrafine aluminium oxyhydroxide (AOH) and fibrous materials (polypropylene, carbon fibre and basalt) in static and dynamic modes. The adsorption values of water-soluble petroleum products with AOH decrease in the series: diesel fuel – crude oil – gasoline. The efficiency of water purification from dissolved hydrocarbons amounts to 98% for diesel fuel in static modes. Sorption of petroleum products from emulsions is significantly greater and amounts to 15 mg/g of adsorbent under static conditions. The purification efficiency of water containing up to 100 mg/L of petroleum products amounts to 90%. Increasing AOH/emulsion ratio we shorten time of water-oil emulsion destruction and decrease residual concentration of oil in water. The efficiency of the removal of dissolved hydrocarbons and gasoline is about 80% in the dynamic purification process and that of an emulsion – about 90%. At the thickness of a filtering layer of only 1 cm AOH effectively removes both dissolved and emulsified petroleum products. One can use fibrous filtering materials to filter water-oil emulsions. It is shown that filtration of emulsions through the filters filled with carbon fibre and compressed basalt fibre with clay-cellulose binder increases purification efficiency up to 70-80%. Carbon fibre and compressed basalt fibre sorbents proved to be the most effective materials; the purification degree at their application amounts to 70-80%. Compressed basalt fibre is effective in a wide range of linear filtration rates (3-6 m/h) and a minimal thickness of filtering layer is 1 cm without any noticeable loss of purification quality. Combining of ultrafine AOH and fibrous filtering materials in a multilayered adsorbing filter allows one to purify water from petroleum products with various dispersion degrees in a wide concentrationrange. The filter is regenerated with live steam.