Electrical Properties of 'Water in Castor Oil' Emulsion

The results of the research into the electrical properties of the "water in castor oil" emulsion, which make it possible to substantiate the technology of castor oil purification from plant impurities and water in an electric field, were presented. The experimental studies of the electrical properties of the "water in castor oil" emulsion revealed the dependences of specific resistance to direct and alternating currents and dielectric loss angle tangent on the temperature and water content. It was proved that the active component of specific resistance to the suspension "water in castor oil" on AC is smaller than resistance to DC. That is why, at the temperature of 80 °C and water content of 2 %, heat release on AC is 10 % higher than the heat release on DC. According to this, it is advisable to perform the process of castor oil purification from plant impurities and water residues on AC. This makes it possible to obtain additional heat release and thereby compensate for heat losses for the vaporization of flotation bubbles, which leads to the stable process of flotation purification. A comparison of the magnitudes of polarization losses and losses of end-to-end electrical conductivity for pure oil indicates their identical order. The addition of water leads to an increase in polarization losses due to the structural and dipole polarization of water as a polar fluid. Due to this, from the theoretical point of view, it can be argued about additional local heat release on finely dispersed water drops in the quantity, which can ensure the compensation for the heat needed for vaporization. According to this, vaporization does not require indirect heating of the electrode area from an external source at the expense of thermal conductivity. The obtained results of the experimental research make it possible to substantiate the technological and structural parameters of the electro-technological complex of castor oil purification in the electric field of the cylindrical system of electrodes.