Coalescence separation of oil water emulsion on amphiphobic fluorocarbon polymer and silica nanoparticles coated fiber-bed coalescer

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2020.07.034

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2021, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (8): 29-37.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2020.07.034

• Separation Science and Engineering • Previous Articles Next Articles

Coalescence separation of oil water emulsion on amphiphobic fluorocarbon polymer and silica nanoparticles coated fiber-bed coalescer

Qian Zhang^1,2,3, Lei Li^1,2,3, Lixia Cao^1,3, Yanxiang Li^1,3, Wangliang Li^1,2,3

1 CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
3 Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Received:2020-05-15 Revised:2020-07-02 Online:2021-09-30 Published:2021-08-28
Contact: Lei Li, Wangliang Li
Supported by:
This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under the contract number of 2017YFB0308000, Program of Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, CAS (IAGM2020C04), the State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing (SKLOP201903001) and Key Research and Development Program of Hebei Province, China (20374001D).

Coalescence separation of oil water emulsion on amphiphobic fluorocarbon polymer and silica nanoparticles coated fiber-bed coalescer

Qian Zhang^1,2,3, Lei Li^1,2,3, Lixia Cao^1,3, Yanxiang Li^1,3, Wangliang Li^1,2,3

1 CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
3 Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

通讯作者: Lei Li, Wangliang Li
基金资助:
This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under the contract number of 2017YFB0308000, Program of Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, CAS (IAGM2020C04), the State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing (SKLOP201903001) and Key Research and Development Program of Hebei Province, China (20374001D).

Abstract

Abstract: Discharging untreated oily wastewater into the environment disrupts the ecological balance, which is a global problem that requires urgent solutions. Superhydrophilic and superoleophilic fibrous medium (FM) effectively separated oil-water emulsion as it was hydrophobic underwater. But its separation efficiencies (SEs) first increased to 98.9%, then dropped to 97.6% in 10 min because of oil-fouling. To tackle this problem, FM deposited with 0%-10% silica nanoparticle (NPsFMs), then coated by fluorocarbon polymer (X-[CH₂CH₂O]_nCH₂CH₂O-Y-NH-COOCH₂C₄F₉) (FCNPsFMs), was used to enhance its roughness and regulate its initial wettability to improve the anti-fouling property. FCFM and FCNPsFMs were hydrophobic and oleophobic in air and oleophobic underwater. Their water contact angles, oil contact angles and oil contact angles were 115.3°-121.1°, 128.8°-136.5°, and 131.6°-136.7°, respectively, meeting the requirement of 90°-140° for coalescence separation. FCNPsFM-5 had the best separation performance with a constant value of 99.8% in 10 min, while that of FCNPsFM-10 slightly decreased to 99.5%. Theoretical released droplet (TRD) diameter, calculated by the square root of the product of pore radius and fiber diameter, was used for the evaluation of coalescence performance. Analyzed by two ideal models, TRD diameter and fiber diameter showed a parabola type relationship, proving that the separation efficiency was a collaborative work of wettability, pore size and fiber diameter. Also, it explained the SEs reduction from FCNPsFM-5 to FCNPsFM-10 was revelent to the three parameters. Moreover, FCNPsFMs effectively separated emulsions stabilized by cationic surfactant CTAB (SEs:97.3%-98.4%) and anionic surfactant SDBS (SEs:91.3%-93.4%). But they had an adverse effect on nonionic surfactant Tween-80 emulsion separation (SEs:94.0%-71.76%). Emulsions made by diverse oils can be effectively separated:octane (SEs:99.4%-100%), rapeseed oil (SEs:97.3%-98.8%), and diesel (SEs:95.2%-97.0%). These findings provide new insights for designing novel materials for oil-water separation by coalescence mechanism.

Key words: Oil-water separation, Fluorocarbon polymer, Amphiphobic, Coalescence

摘要： Discharging untreated oily wastewater into the environment disrupts the ecological balance, which is a global problem that requires urgent solutions. Superhydrophilic and superoleophilic fibrous medium (FM) effectively separated oil-water emulsion as it was hydrophobic underwater. But its separation efficiencies (SEs) first increased to 98.9%, then dropped to 97.6% in 10 min because of oil-fouling. To tackle this problem, FM deposited with 0%-10% silica nanoparticle (NPsFMs), then coated by fluorocarbon polymer (X-[CH₂CH₂O]_nCH₂CH₂O-Y-NH-COOCH₂C₄F₉) (FCNPsFMs), was used to enhance its roughness and regulate its initial wettability to improve the anti-fouling property. FCFM and FCNPsFMs were hydrophobic and oleophobic in air and oleophobic underwater. Their water contact angles, oil contact angles and oil contact angles were 115.3°-121.1°, 128.8°-136.5°, and 131.6°-136.7°, respectively, meeting the requirement of 90°-140° for coalescence separation. FCNPsFM-5 had the best separation performance with a constant value of 99.8% in 10 min, while that of FCNPsFM-10 slightly decreased to 99.5%. Theoretical released droplet (TRD) diameter, calculated by the square root of the product of pore radius and fiber diameter, was used for the evaluation of coalescence performance. Analyzed by two ideal models, TRD diameter and fiber diameter showed a parabola type relationship, proving that the separation efficiency was a collaborative work of wettability, pore size and fiber diameter. Also, it explained the SEs reduction from FCNPsFM-5 to FCNPsFM-10 was revelent to the three parameters. Moreover, FCNPsFMs effectively separated emulsions stabilized by cationic surfactant CTAB (SEs:97.3%-98.4%) and anionic surfactant SDBS (SEs:91.3%-93.4%). But they had an adverse effect on nonionic surfactant Tween-80 emulsion separation (SEs:94.0%-71.76%). Emulsions made by diverse oils can be effectively separated:octane (SEs:99.4%-100%), rapeseed oil (SEs:97.3%-98.8%), and diesel (SEs:95.2%-97.0%). These findings provide new insights for designing novel materials for oil-water separation by coalescence mechanism.

关键词: Oil-water separation, Fluorocarbon polymer, Amphiphobic, Coalescence

Qian Zhang, Lei Li, Lixia Cao, Yanxiang Li, Wangliang Li. Coalescence separation of oil water emulsion on amphiphobic fluorocarbon polymer and silica nanoparticles coated fiber-bed coalescer[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2021, 36(8): 29-37.

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Coalescence separation of oil water emulsion on amphiphobic fluorocarbon polymer and silica nanoparticles coated fiber-bed coalescer

Coalescence separation of oil water emulsion on amphiphobic fluorocarbon polymer and silica nanoparticles coated fiber-bed coalescer

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