Recyclable amine-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for efficient demulsification of crude oil-in-water emulsions

Abstract

Produced water from the oil and gas industry often contains stable crude oil-in-water emulsions that are typically difficult to treat with conventional separation methods.

Synthesis of Fe3O4 nanocomposites for efficient separation of ultra-small oil droplets from hexadecane–water emulsions

“…The comparison of the E S between Fe 3 O 4 @HA@PDDA and other magnetic demulsiers in the literatures is summarized in Table 1. It was found that most of the demulsiers [12][13][14][15][16][17]40,41 with amino group show excellent demulsication performance up to 90%, while Fe 3 O 4 @HA@PDDA NPs have higher oil-water separation efficiency with the least dosage except for quaternized chitosan (QC)-graed MNPs. 16,17 In addition, Fe 3 O 4 @HA@PDDA NPs show higher oil-water separation efficiency for ultra-small particle emulsions (the average size of oil droplet is 247 AE 35 nm).…”

“…The resulting amphiphilic demulsier exhibited excellent oilwater separation performance in emulsions with oil droplet sizes ranging 0.4 to 10 mm. [12][13][14] Lü et al produced Fe 3 O 4 MNPs using a solvothermal method, followed by aminopropyl functionalization using a modied Stöber method. The surface of the material was further modied with aldehyde and graed with chitosan (CS).…”

Removal of Residual Oil from Produced Water Using Magnetic Nanoparticles

“…coated with a surface-active agent, they act as the carrier for the chemical that has the added benefit of being able to be manipulated by an external magnet. This magnetism has been utilized to separate the water from the demulsifying compound during water treatments (Wang et al, 2018). The use of bare or uncoated iron oxide nanoparticle to the oil and gas industry has been limited.…”

“…Determining the lowest concentration of nanoparticles allowable to maintain oil removal efficiencies provides substantial evidence and purpose to the practical use of these nanoparticles on a larger scale. Primary nanoparticle concentrations were selected from the literature (Wang, 2018) and were later reduced by one-half for the tests later used to determine critical nanoparticle concentrations for the treatment process. Table 3.4 summarizes each nanoparticle sample the corresponding concentrations (mg/mL) tests that were conducted.…”

“…Brine solutions were mixed on a magnetic stir plate with DI water and powdered NaCl (Sigma Aldrich, ≥99.0%) or CaCl2. The most commonly used salinity of the prepared brine was 1180 ppm (1.18 g/L) as referenced by a previous study (Wang et al, 2018).…”