July 22nd, 2015

Iranian researchers tried to take an effective step to improve the desalination of crude oil by using nanotechnology.

The researchers studied the effect of a type of nanoparticle on the process to break emulsions and in the separation of water from oil.
Crude oil extracted from oil wells contains water, salt and other impurities. The presence of water and salt causes some problems, including corrosion and deposition in tanks and pipelines. Therefore, the amount of salt and water should be reduced to less than 0.1% vol.
This research studies improvement in the performance of chemical method to separate water from crude oil by using titania nanoparticles. Results showed that the highest amount of separation occurs in the presence of these nanoparticles. These particles increase the efficiency of emulsion breaking process up to more than 90%. They also reduce the time of sedimentation required for the separation process.
According to the researchers, a number of various emulsion breakers have been produced in this research by using titania nanoparticles with various coatings. Then, the effects of these nanoparticles were studied on the modification of the process to separate water from oil.
The mechanism is the use of unique properties of titania nanoparticles such as very high contact area, hydrophilicity and ability to disperse in oil phase. The nanoparticles are dispersed in oil phase and they reduce the effects of emulsion stabilizing agents due to their surface properties, and as a result, they weaken the film between water and oil. This fact facilitates the separation process.