Demulsification Behavior, Characteristics, and Performance of Surfactant Stabilized Oil-in-Water Emulsion under Bidirectional Pulsed Electric Field

China Petroleum Processing & Petrochemical Technology ›› 2023, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (1): 10-22.

• Scientific Research • Previous Articles Next Articles

Demulsification Behavior, Characteristics, and Performance of Surfactant Stabilized Oil-in-Water Emulsion under Bidirectional Pulsed Electric Field

Ren Boping^1,3; Kang Yong²; Zhang Xianming¹; Gong Haifeng^1,3; Chen Ling^1,3; Liu Yunqi³

1. Engineering Research Center for Waste Oil Recovery Technology and Equipment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China;
2. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China;
3. State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China

Received:2022-06-18 Revised:2022-07-15 Online:2023-03-30 Published:2023-03-30
Contact: Yong Kang E-mail:ykang@tju.edu.cn
About author:Corresponding Author: Kang Yong; Tel./fax: +86 22 2740 3389; E-mail: ykang@tju.edu.cn.

Abstract

Abstract: As a novel electric demulsification method, bidirectional pulsed electric field (BPEF) was employed to demulsify the surfactant stabilized oil-in-water (SSO/W) emulsion for oil/water separation in this work. The demulsification behavior, characteristics, and stages under BPEF were explored. It was discovered that BPEF drove SSO/W emulsion to move and form vortexes, during which the oil droplets aggregated and accumulated to generate an oil droplet layer (ODL). ODL subsequently transformed into a continuous oil layer (COL) leading to the demulsification and separation of SSO/W emulsion. The conversion rate of ODL to COL was defined and used to evaluate the demulsification process and reflect the coalescence ability and transformation efficiency of dispersed oil droplets into COL. Furthermore, the effects of BPEF voltage, frequency, duty cycle, ratio of pulse output time, and surfactant type and content on the demulsification performance were examined. The optimal values of BPEF parameters for demulsification operation were 400 V, 25 Hz, 50%, and 4:1. O/W emulsion containing anionic surfactant was apt to be demulsified by BPEF, nonionic surfactant took the second place and cationic surfactant was the most difficult. A high surfactant content was not conducive to the BPEF demulsification. This work is anticipated to provide useful guidance for oil/water separation and oil recovery from actual emulsified oily wastewater by BPEF.

Key words: oil-in-water emulsion, surfactant, demulsification, bidirectional pulsed electric field

Ren Boping, Kang Yong, Zhang Xianming, Gong Haifeng, Chen Ling, Liu Yunqi. Demulsification Behavior, Characteristics, and Performance of Surfactant Stabilized Oil-in-Water Emulsion under Bidirectional Pulsed Electric Field[J]. China Petroleum Processing & Petrochemical Technology, 2023, 25(1): 10-22.

References

References[1] You Z, Xu H, Sun Y, et al. Effective treatment of emulsified oil wastewater by the coagulation–flotation process[J]. RSC Advances, 2018, 8(71): 40639–40646[2] Yu L, Han M, He F. A review of treating oily wastewater[J]. Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 2017, 10: S1913–S1922[3] Gupta R K, Dunderdale G J, England M W, et al. Oil/water separation techniques: A review of recent progresses and future directions[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2017, 5(31): 16025–16058[4] Jamaly S, Giwa A, Hasan S W, et al. Recent improvements in oily wastewater treatment: Progress, challenges, and future opportunities[J]. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2015, 37: 15–30[5] Hu J, Chen J, Zhang X, et al. Dynamic demulsification of oil-in-water emulsions with electrocoalescence: Diameter distribution of oil droplets[J]. Separation and Purification Technology, 2020, 254(1): 631–639[6] Mizoguchi Y, Muto A. Demulsification of oil-in-water emulsions by application of an electric field: Relationship between droplet size distribution and demulsification efficiency[J]. Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan, 2019, 52(10): 799–804[7] Hui Z, Bukosky S C, Ristenpart W D. Low voltage electrical demulsification of oily wastewater[J]. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 2018, 57(24): 8341–8347[8] Muto A, Hiraguchi Y, Kinugawa K, et al. Effects of organic solvent and ionic strength on continuous demulsification using an alternating electric field[J]. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2016, 506: 228–233[9] Ichikawa T, Itoh K, Yamamoto S, et al. Rapid demulsification of dense oil-in-water emulsion by low external electric field: I. Experimental evidence[J]. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2004, 242(1-3): 21–26[10] Zhang J, Kang Y. Demulsification of dilute O/W emulsion by DC electric field[J]. Petroleum Science and Technology, 2018, 36(14): 1058–1064[11] Hosseini M, Shahavi M H. Electrostatic enhancement of coalescence of oil droplets (in nanometer scale) in water emulsion[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2012, 20(4): 654–658[12] Vigo C R, Ristenpart W D. Aggregation and coalescence of oil droplets in water via electrohydrodynamic flows[J]. Langmuir, 2010, 26(13): 10703–10707[13] Ichikawa T, Nakajima Y. Rapid demulsification of dense oil-in-water emulsion by low external electric field.: II. Theory[J]. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2004, 242(1-3): 27–37[14] Hjartnes T N, Mhatre S, Gao B, et al. Demulsification of crude oil emulsions tracked by pulsed field gradient NMR. Part II: Influence of chemical demulsifiers in external AC electric field[J]. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2020, 586: 124188[15] Ichikawa T. Electrical demulsification of oil-in-water emulsion[J]. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2007, 302(1): 581–586[16] Li X, Xu H, Liu J, et al. Cyclonic state micro-bubble flotation column in oil-in-water emulsion separation[J]. Separation and Purification Technology, 2016, 165: 101–106[17] Ren B, Kang Y. Aggregation of oil droplets and demulsification performance of oil-in-water emulsion in bidirectional pulsed electric field[J]. Separation and Purification Technology, 2019, 211: 958–965[18] Ren B, Kang Y. Demulsification of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion in bidirectional pulsed electric field[J]. Langmuir, 2018, 34(30): 8923–8931[19] Sharma T, Kumar G S, Chon B H, et al. Thermal stability of oil-in-water pickering emulsion in the presence of nanoparticle, surfactant, and polymer[J]. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 2015, 22: 324–334[20] Katepalli H, Bose A. Response of surfactant stabilized oil-in-water emulsions to the addition of particles in an aqueous suspension[J]. Langmuir, 2014, 30(43): 12736–12742[21] Dickhout J M, Kleijn J M, Lammertink R G H, et al. Adhesion of emulsified oil droplets to hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces – effect of surfactant charge, surfactant concentration and ionic strength[J]. Soft Matter, 2018, 14(26): 5452–5460[22] Xu M, Jiang J, Pei X, et al. Novel oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by ionic surfactant and similarly charged nanoparticles at very low concentrations[J]. Angewandte Chemie, 2018, 130(26): 7864–7868[23] Kharat M, Zhang G, McClements D J. Stability of curcumin in oil-in-water emulsions: Impact of emulsifier type and concentration on chemical degradation[J]. Food Research International, 2018, 111: 178–186[24] Wulff-Pérez M, Gálvez-Ruíz M J, de Vicente J, et al. Delaying lipid digestion through steric surfactant Pluronic F68: A novel in vitro approach[J]. Food Research International, 2010, 43(6): 1629–1633

Demulsification Behavior, Characteristics, and Performance of Surfactant Stabilized Oil-in-Water Emulsion under Bidirectional Pulsed Electric Field

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 4

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments

[1]	Zhang Dan Yang Ping Zhang Youhua Duan Linhai Meng Xiuhong. Controlling the Pore Structure and Photocatalytic Performance of the Flexible FeⅢ Metal-Organic Framework MIL-53(Fe) by Using Surfactants [J]. China Petroleum Processing & Petrochemical Technology, 2021, 23(3): 23-29.
[2]	Zhan Chenyu Ma Yue Yue Changtao Li Shuyuan Tang Xun Wen Hua. Heat transfer and kinetics study of Moroccan oil shale pyrolysis process [J]. China Petroleum Processing & Petrochemical Technology, 2021, 23(2): 28-33.
[3]	Zhao Lin Qin Bing Wu Xiongjun Wang Zenglin Jiang Jianlin. Study on Reducing Injection Pressure of Low Permeability Reservoirs Characterized by High Temperature and High Salinity [J]. China Petroleum Processing & Petrochemical Technology, 2021, 23(2): 44-54.
[4]	Li Haiyan Qin Lihong Gao Guangbo Sun Famin. The Effect of Surfactant on Synthesis of ZSM-5 in a Super-Concentrated System [J]. , 2016, 18(3): 35-40.