The industrial effluents from the oil and gas industry contain harmful contaminants that bring detrimental effects to the aquatic life and human population. The primary concerns are the high value of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), turbidity and heavy metal content such as ferum and copper in the effluents, which did not comply with the Environmental Quality Act (1974) Industrial Effluent (Regulations) 2009 of Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE). This research aims to study the efficiency of natural bio-coagulants in treating the industrial effluent from the oil and gas industry. The industrial effluent sample was treated by using two natural biocoagulants F.A and F.B and three commercial treatment agents (bio-solvent, alum, and poly aluminium chloride (PAC)). Different beakers consisting of 7.5 wt% of each agent were added into 1.5 L of wastewater sample and left for a week without mechanical assistance. For the second stage, only F.A and alum were used during the experiment. By using five different weight percentages: 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5%, 10.0%, and 12.5%, the treatment agents were added into 100 ml of wastewater and left for a week without any mechanical assistance. Then, the samples were analyzed for each of the five parameters. The results showed F.A is the best agent in COD treatment, with 41% reduction; followed by alum with 36%, PAC with 26% and bio-solvent with 22% reduction, respectively. The obtained results also showed that F.A and alum are at optimum performances at 7.5 wt%. The F.A and alum efficiency are deteriorating when the dosage is below and above 7.5 wt%.
Emulsified bitumen is an aqueous mixture of bitumen and can be used in insulation and coating applications. In this study, used automotive oil was utilized as a component in bitumen emulsion formulation. Five formulations of bitumen emulsion comprising different ratios of neat bitumen and recycled automotive oil were formulated, namely EMB01–EMB05. The formulation utilized 1 g of abietic acid (C20H30O2) as an emulsifier. The formulated bitumen was characterized for penetration, softening point, differential scanning calorimetry, viscosity, and oscillatory test, and the results were compared to commercial bitumen emulsion (ATLAS bitumen emulsion). The results show that EMB05 has softer consistency, high viscosity, temperature susceptibility, higher thermal stability, and an adaptable viscoelastic range compared to other formulations that provide suitable properties for coating and insulation of wall waterproof material.
Three formulations intended for NSF H1 food-grade grease were prepared in this study comprising paraffin oil as a base oil and fumed silica as a thickener. No additive was added in formulation 1 (F1) and formulation 2 (F2), whereas chitosan was added in formulation 3 (F3) as an additive. A commercial food-grade grease (FGG) was used for comparison purposes. The formulated greases and the commercial FGG were characterised for thermal stability via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetric analysis (DTG). Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dropping point, oil separation, and consistency tests were also carried out to evaluate the properties of the greases. The FTIR spectra were obtained for the fresh and aged greases for grease characterisation. The results showed that the grease made with chitosan as an additive demonstrated higher oil separation, better consistency, and was less affected by ageing, as indicated by the change of grease colour after the oil separation test. F1, F2, F3, and the commercial FGG recorded dropping points higher than 350 °C, indicating no dropping point properties for the tested greases. The grease formulated with chitosan (F3) achieved the highest oil separation with 1.21%, while the commercial FGG recorded the lowest oil separation with 0.66%, followed by F1 and F3 with the oil separation of 0.99% and 0.98%, respectively. For the consistency test, the NLGI number for each formulation varied but the commercial FGG showed the lowest NLGI number of 2, whereas F3 showed the NLGI number in the range of 2–3, and F1 showed the NLGI number of 3. The aged grease of F3 had unchanged consistency after the oil separation test. Based on the results, the formulated greases have acceptable properties in comparison to the commercial FGG, and the addition of chitosan contributes positively to the grease characteristics.
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