Removal
of crude oil from oil-contaminated soil using a micro-emulsion
(ME) washing method was carried out in this work. The influence of
the oil/water ratio on the phase behavior of the ME was studied by
the phase diagram. As the oil/water ratio (V
o/V
w) increased, Winsor type I
ME presented and the phase state of the system remained unchanged.
Comparison between the original and the recovered crude oil and soil
samples was done. It is found that the ME treatment has little influence
on the physical and chemical properties of the soil. The recovered
crude oil has higher saturation fraction, lower aromatic, resin, and
asphaltene content, and lower density and viscosity and belongs to
light crude oil. Experiments on effects of diesel oil amount, temperature,
reusing times, and scaling-up were carried out using the selected
three types of ME formulation. The optimal ME formulation for the
de-oiling of crude oil contaminated soil is w(SDBS)
= 10%, w(n-butanol) = 4.8%, w(NaCl) = 0.8%, and w(diesel) = 13.6%.
The most suitable temperature for treating oily soil by ME is 35–50
°C, and the treating effect is still stable when the capacity
is scaled up by 6000 times.
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