Journal of Membrane Science & Technology

Abstract

Experimental Study of the Separation of Oil in Water Emulsions by Tangential Flow Microfiltration Process. Part 1: Analysis of Oil Rejection Efficiency and Flux Decline

Wai Lam Loh, Thiam Teik Wan, Vivek Kolladikkal Premanadhan, Ko Ko Naing, Nguyen Dinh Tam, Valente Hernandez Perez and Yu Qiao Zhao

Management of produced water is a major issue offshore. Microfiltration has emerged as a useful alternative for treating the oil-water emulsions to meet the regulatory limit for disposal. In this work, tangential flow (cross flow) microfiltration of oil-water mixture was studied. The tangential flow microfiltration process was investigated using a ceramic membrane of 0.5 ?m pore size. For this phase of work, medium viscosity paraffin oil was used as substitute to crude oil. Using oily water feed of 500-1000 ppm oil concentration, a microfiltration ceramic membrane of 0.5 ?m pore size was proven capable of producing a high purity filtrate lower than the threshold required for offshore produced water effluent, typically 29 mg/l residual oil, in the Gulf of Mexico. However, membrane has a major drawback in the form of fouling. Decline in permeation flux should be expected over time of operation. This limitation has certainly impeded the large scale applications of microfiltration process in the field of oil and gas processing industry. An optimized cleaning process is needed to restore membrane performance.