The science of polymers, more specifically, synthesis, characterization, and physicochemical properties in solutions, has wide application in the petroleum industry, which uses polymers as components of fluids or additives to correct problems that affect oil production and/or increase production costs. Polymers are utilized during all phases, from drilling to treatment of oil and water. Research on the synthesis of polymers and their respective characterization aims to develop new molecules, with controlled structures, for various applications, having one or more objectives, namely: (1) to enhance operating efficiency; (2) to reduce costs; and (3) to elucidate mechanisms of action that can help in the development of new technologies. The evaluation of the physicochemical properties of a polymer in solution in many cases permits establishing useful correlations between its properties and performance in a specific application, besides providing insight into the mechanisms inherent in the production system, as is the case of stabilization of asphaltenes. Our research group has applied the knowledge of polymer science to the petroleum industry, focusing on the following functions: viscosification, inhibition of clay swelling, formation of filter cake, drag reduction, divergence, modification of wax crystals, stabilization of asphaltenes, emulsification, demulsification, and cleaning of solids systems contaminated with petroleum, among others.

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Resinas poliméricas vêm sendo usadas como materiais alternativos para tratamento de águas oleosas, provenientes da indústria de petróleo, as quais já tenham sido tratadas por métodos convencionais. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar o grau de purificação de águas oleosas sintéticas, quando tratadas em colunas de leito fixo empacotadas com resinas poliméricas constituídas por segmentos hidrofílicos e lipofílicos. Foram preparadas águas oleosas sintéticas e a fluorimetria foi utilizada para determinar o teor total de óleos e graxas (TOG) nas amostras de água recém-preparada e após eluição pela coluna. Os resultados mostraram que amostras de água tratadas com a coluna apresentaram valor de TOG não superior a 1% do valor de TOG da água oleosa preparada. Um estudo cinético mostrou que a eficiência de remoção dos contaminantes depende ligeiramente da vazão de eluição do sistema, sendo que valores de desempenho ótimos foram alcançados a uma vazão de 7,0 mL/min. A passagem de um volume de água oleosa de 11.087 vezes o volume do leito da coluna não foi suficiente para atingir a completa saturação do sistema. Ensaios preliminares de regeneração e reutilização da coluna mostraram seu potencial de uso em mais de 1 ciclo de tratamento de água oleosa.

The aim of this study was to investigate the application of oil in water (O/W) nanoemulsion as solvent in the extraction step for determination of oil content in oily water, measured using a UV visible spectrophotometer (UV-vis) and a total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer. The optical micrographs and distribution size curves showed that the use of a small amount of nanoemulsion was capable of transforming the oily water in a colloidal dispersion that can be read in the UV-vis and TOC-VCHS devices. The oil content results obtained showed great accuracy between the measurements, with very low average standard deviation (∼5%) for both UV-vis and TOC-VCHS. The new methods suggested in this work are very promising, since they allow simple, quick and accurate analyses, and especially require a lower volume of solvent (less than 1%) compared to those used in conventional analytic methods.

Abstract:The discharge of oily wastewaters in the environment is steadily increasing, causing serious damages. Among various treatment methods, adsorption is generally considered the most appropriate, since it can remove both organic and inorganic pollutants. Adsorption using low-cost alternative biopolymers for removal of contaminants from wastewater has been widely investigated. In this context, chitosan has been drawing particular attention because, among its many applications, it can be used in the treatment of aqueous effluents. In this study, microspheres were prepared by reticulation of chitosan with sodium triphosphate (STP) and studied for the treatment of water containing crude oil. The microspheres were regular and had surface pores. These microspheres were packed in treatment columns and their ability to remove oil was measured with a fluorometer, by the difference in the oil concentration before and after passing through the column. The microspheres that presented porosity about 80 % were highly efficient in oil removal, with rates above 90%.