Studies about the production of membranes for water/oil separation from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); Estudos sobre a producao de membranas para separacao agua/oleo a partir do polietileno de ultra alto peso molecular

Nowadays, in order to comply to the increasingly rigorous demands of the environmental agencies, an adequate treatment and disposal of oily waters generated in production, refining, storage and transportation of petroleum is one of the greatest technological challenges to be met by scientists and engineers. The separation of oil in water dispersions within the required standards is a complex and difficult task as these emulsions display an array of characteristics such as salt content, solubility and oil drop diameter, dispersed chemicals which demand particular techniques or experimental procedures and conditions to accomplish the desired separation efficiency. A new efficient and low cost technology is needed in order to meet the increasing demands for environmental preservation and for industrial cost reduction, chiefly with respect to those of treated water. The present work deals with the development and use of low cost sintered UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) membranes for the separation of oil in water dispersions. Tubular membranes were prepared at a fixed (200 deg C) temperature at five different sintering times. Their oil separation efficiency, in laboratory scale, was determined in a bench top system. The membranes displaying the best performance were chosen and our results show that sintered UHMWPE membranes are able to separate oil from oil/water dispersions. (author)