| Abstract |
Porosity and surface chemistry improve electrospun membrane fouling properties. • Polyaniline-polyacrylonitrile electrospun membrane resist hydrocarbon fouling. • High porosity of electrospun membranes provides performance and fouling benefits. • Electrospun membranes are viable for filtering oil and gas produced waters. Produced water (PW) is a complex mixture generated during oil and gas extraction. Membrane fouling by hydrocarbon emulsions (sizes <10 µm) challenges most PW treatment systems. Electrospinning has the possibility of creating microporous membranes that present unique performance properties, though evaluations of these characteristics are largely restricted to unrealistic dead-end configurations. Three different nanofibrous polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membranes were synthesized by electrospinning and their performances contrasted with a commercially available PAN membrane. Feed solutions included synthetic oil and solvent emulsions and a produced water from an operating well-site. Two nanoparticles, polyaniline (PANI) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO), were studied for enhancing the oleophobicity and fouling properties of the electrospun PAN membranes. Electrospun membranes showed higher porosities (68 to 80%) and water permeance values (9,000 to 10,000 LMH/bar) relative to that for the commercially available PAN membrane (44% and 8,800 LMH/bar). All electrospun membranes provided superior performance characteristics when treating the emulsions and produced water relative to the commercial membrane. The PANI integrated membrane demonstrated the greatest resistance to oil/solvent emulsion fouling and comparable performance to the RGO and PAN membrane treating the produced water. |
| Authors |
Elizabeth C. Butler   , Jonathan A. Brant
|
| Journal Info |
Elsevier BV | Separation and Purification Technology , vol: 306
, pages: 122623 - 122623
|
| Publication Date |
2/1/2023 |
| ISSN |
1383-5866 |
Type |
article |
| Open Access |
bronze
|
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2022.122623 |
| Keywords |
Membrane Fouling (Score: 0.574834) , Electrospinning (Score: 0.564379) , Membrane Distillation (Score: 0.548737) , Polymer Membranes (Score: 0.53776) , Nanofiltration (Score: 0.529312)
|
