Separation of Oil Emulsion with Dynamic Membrane with Surface Layer of Polystyrene

Abstract

In this paper, we studied the parameters of the process of separation of oil emulsion using a dynamic membrane of ultrafiltration PTFEg-PSd. A polymer membrane with a dynamic layer of polystyrene particles with sizes from 55 to 72 nm was obtained on a substrate of hydrophilic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The results of scanning electron microscopy showed the formation of a layer of spherical polystyrene particles on the membrane surface. The properties of a dynamic membrane were studied: porosity, moisture capacity, and wettability. After applying the polystyrene layer, an increase in the hydrophobicity of the surface layer of the membrane was established. For membrane separation, a 1% oil emulsion was prepared by dispersing the carbonaceous oil. The retention capacity of membranes for oil products from 1% oil emulsion was 96.4%, with a specific productivity of 113 dm3/m2·h which is not inferior to the performance of a commercial UPM-100 ultrafiltration membrane. Particle sizes of the dispersed phase in a 1% oil emulsion are distributed in the range from 229 to 1476 nm, after separation of the emulsion by a dynamic membrane, oil particles with sizes from 134 to 236 nm were detected in the filtrate, which indicates the removal of the bulk of the dispersed phase from the emulsion by ultrafiltration membranes.