Rotating Cylinder Microfiltration of Oil–in–Water Emulsion Using Novel Slotted Pore Filter

Abstract

Nowadays, oil–in–water emulsion has become an important topic in petroleum industry, which produces oil–inwater emulsion in the recovery of crude oil. Oil–in–water emulsion produced in crude oil recovery causes problems at different stages of the production in the petroleum industry. Recently, microfiltration has been applied in the separation of oil from water. In filtration of oil–in–water emulsion, there is the possibility of oil drops deforming and squeezing through the slot of membrane so the separation efficiency will decrease. This research has studied cross flow filtration of oil–in–water emulsion in a rotating system and also visualized the interaction of oil drops and slot shaped membrane pores. The drop or bubble–slot experiment used a slot with different width. It has been found that the squeezing of an oil drop in the slot is really determined by the pressure applied and velocity of the surrounding fluid. Cross flow microfiltration experiment was conducted using tubular slotted pore membrane with rotation to generate shear on the surface of membrane. Kerosene and crude oil were tested using 5.3 and 7.5 microns membrane at different rotation speed and permeate velocity. Experimental results indicated that in a no blocking condition, the movement of oil drops was determined by shear force and permeate drag force. While in blocking condition, the rejection of oil drops was determined by the formation and characteristic of the secondary membrane formed on the surface of membrane. Blocking will improve the filtration performance in relation to oil rejection, but it will increase the pressure needed or decrease the flux rate through the membrane.