Over time, various techniques such as chemical flooding, water flooding, and polymer flooding have been developed to clean and recover oil from natural resources. In order to better understand the use of polymers in oil/water separation and recovery, this study investigates the interactions of the polymer with the oil in water emulsion utilizing multiple known oil compositions of oil/water emulsions rather than crude oil and multiple molecular weights of the polymer. The oil component was composed of varying concentrations of phenanthrene (4%, 8%, and 16%) in n-hexadecane to determine if there is a difference in demulsification efficiency based on aromatic composition of the oil. Generations 3-5 (G3-G5) poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers were used in this study to determine polymer demulsification efficiency based on increasing molecular weight. All studies were conducted at both 30<sup>o</sup>C and 40<sup>o</sup>C to determine optimum temperature conditions for demulsification. Initial studies conclude there is a temperature dependence on demulsification efficiency for lower molecular weight polymers, there is an overall demulsification efficiency dependence on the molecular weight of the polymer, and there is an oil and polymer interaction dependence based on aromatic concentration. These results are comparable with previous studies looking into the interactions between crude oil in water emulsions, but this research brings a new understanding to what properties for both the polymer and the oil can be altered to determine oil and water demulsification efficiency. These results can help in future investigations to developing optimal polymer materials for oil recovery and separation.

G3-G5 PAMAM dendrimer demulsification studies of known oil in water emulsions compositions

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.