Nanocomposites based on ionene–bentonite used to treat oily water

Abstract

A large number of processes are used to treat the oily water (oil emulsions in water) produced in the petroleum industry. The treatment strategy depends not only on the strictness of the environmental requirements in the jurisdiction where the water is discharged, but also on the relative treatment cost. The present study reports tests to assess the effectiveness of removing oil from oily water by adsorption in polymer nanocomposites. These composites were prepared from ionenes (cationic polyelectrolytes) and sodium bentonite or organophilic bentonite. They were characterized by infrared spectrometry, thermogravimetry, X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray diffraction. The oil-removal effectiveness was evaluated by mixing nanocomposites and oily water in a shaker bath (batch test). In the tests conducted only with treated sodium bentonite and organophilic bentonite, the oil removal was $ 70%, whereas the use of polymer nanocomposites raised the adsorption of oil to $ 90%. These values depended on the mass of material, concentration of oil in the contaminated water, and the contact time.

Upgrading Wood Gas Using Bentonite Clay: A Multiscale Modeling and Simulation Study

“…Bentonite has wide use in the food and beverage industry as a purification medium, as drilling mud, as a foundry binder, and as a protein adsorbent, among other uses . Bentonite has also been studied in the last decade for applications as diverse as separating oil from water, the development of clay/rubber nanocomposites, and in radioactive waste disposal…”

“…14 Bentonite has wide use in the food and beverage industry as a purification medium, as drilling mud, as a foundry binder, and as a protein adsorbent, among other uses. 15 Bentonite has also been studied in the last decade for applications as diverse as separating oil from water, 16 the development of clay/rubber nanocomposites, 17 and in radioactive waste disposal. 18 A crystalline calcium-rich montmorillonite structure from the literature 18 was used in this study, which had an orthogonal unit cell 0.518 nm × 0.898 nm × 1.500 nm in size with the chemical formula O 24 Al 4 Si 8 Ca 2 .…”