The separation of oil from water remains a challenging process in many industries, including the oil and gas industry. While “free” oil can be efficiently removed using gravity-based separation methods, emulsified oil, which forms naturally, is not effectively removed by these methods. Membrane filtration has been demonstrated to be an effective method to remove all oil from water, including any emulsified oil. However, membrane fouling by the oil (including the emulsified oil) remains a significant challenge. We have developed a membrane-based oil/water separation method that can operate at high fluxes (100 L/m<sup>2</sup> hr) with no fouling, even in extremely high oil concentration environments (100 g/L of crude oil). We have demonstrated successful operation across a range of salinities (from DIW to synthetic produced water with an ionic strength of 2 M) at these high concentrations and fluxes, without experiencing any membrane fouling. The method relies on the coupling of magnetic Pickering emulsions with membrane filtration, followed by a magnetic separation step that recovers the magnetic nanoparticles and allows them to be reused in another round of separation. The water produced during this process is oil-free due to the use of ultrafiltration membranes, which also reduces the pressure demands of the system.<br/>

Coupling magnetic Pickering emulsions to membrane filtration for nonfouling oil/water separations

249th National Meeting (2015)

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