Operating conditions and feed composition on filtering emulsified oil using ceramic-hybrid membrane

A ceramic-hybrid membrane, where carbon nanotube network is implanted in the pores of a ceramic membrane, can efficiently separate emulsified oil with a smaller footprint as opposed to current industrial techniques. This study investigates the performance of the ceramic-hybrid membrane under different operating conditions and feed composition. Overall, the ceramic-hybrid membrane is able to filter emulsified oil from water under strenuous conditions, carefully selected to resemble the industrial conditions, as compared to conventional ceramic membrane. In particular, the ceramic-hybrid membrane is able to remove emulsified oil for various type of surfactants (anionic and non-ionic) and oil concentrations (100-600 ppm), when operating in the temperature range of 25-40 °C, and trans-membrane pressure range of 1-2 atm. In all, the ceramic-hybrid membrane reduces the oil concentration to <10 ppm, which is the regulated level in most countries. This study proposes an industrial possibility of using such membrane for either as a mobile, effective membrane solution or as a secondary process to existing oil treatment protocol for treatment of oily wastewater and produced water.