Experimental and modeling study of MEUF removal of naphthenic acids

This work explores the performance of ceramic ultrafiltration membranes when coupled with micellar enhanced treatment of synthetically produced water containing naphthenic acids. Polymeric PAN membranes, reported in our earlier studies, have displayed enhanced performance in response to a synergy between the CPC surfactant and the naphthenic acid contaminants. However, ceramic membranes are more appealing to industry and offer stable performance at high temperatures and resilience towards the corrosive nature of naphthenic acids. In addition, this work includes model fit for the experimental results obtained from both polymeric and ceramic membranes. The model draws its strength from the fact that, with only one fitted parameter, it successfully describes permeate flux for different types of membranes with varying pore sizes when treating different feeds with varying compositions.

Research Highlights
► Synergy between naphthenic acids and CPC surfactant was explored
► Application of larger pore size membranes was possible
► Ceramic membranes did not show major CP layer formation or fouling
► Model with one fitted parameter described results for different membranes