Development of a ceramic membrane for emulsion water-diesel treatment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was the development of a low-cost ceramic tubular membrane, using inexpensive materials, namely natural clay, and graphite as a porogenic agent. Such a low-cost membrane can be used as filters or porous supports for the preparation of multilayer ceramic membranes. Extrusion was used as a shape-forming method for this purpose. Graphite was selected as a porogenic additive. Raw materials were physicochemically and morphologically characterized. A comparative study of the influence of porogen content on membrane characteristics was carried out. Finally a graphite addition of 15 wt% and 850 °C as the sintering temperature were chosen. The obtained membrane had 41 vol% of porosity, diametral compression strength of 4 MPa, and relatively good corrosion resistance in basic and acid conditions. The performance of the membrane support was evaluated for diesel-in-water emulsion depuration as a function of pressure. Filtration test using 15% of porogen sample led to turbidity rejection factor of 95%. Therefore, it was considered that this membrane can be suitable for diesel/water emulsion treatment.

Preparation of Ceramic Membranes and Their Application in Wastewater and Water Treatment

“…Recent studies on extrusion methods have aimed to use low-cost materials to replace other metal oxides, and studies have been conducted on the use of low-cost membranes to treat oily wastewater and remove heavy metal ions from wastewater [30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. In recent years, Kamoun et al [37] have used Tunisian clay as a raw material and graphite as a porogenic agent to obtain low-cost ceramic tubular membranes by extrusion molding. It was found that membranes sintered with graphite additions of 15 wt% and sintering temperatures of 850 • C were the optimal membranes for the treatment of diesel/water emulsions and that the resulting membranes had a porosity of 41% and a diameter compressive strength of 4 MPa [37].…”

“…In recent years, Kamoun et al [37] have used Tunisian clay as a raw material and graphite as a porogenic agent to obtain low-cost ceramic tubular membranes by extrusion molding. It was found that membranes sintered with graphite additions of 15 wt% and sintering temperatures of 850 • C were the optimal membranes for the treatment of diesel/water emulsions and that the resulting membranes had a porosity of 41% and a diameter compressive strength of 4 MPa [37].…”