CAPACITY OF ADSORPTION OF ORGANOPHILIC CLAY USED IN THE OIL/WATER SEPARATION PROCESS

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Rodrigues,S.C.G .; Araujo, A.P .; Pereira,K.R.O .; Valenzuela-Diaz,F.R .; Rodrigues, M.G.F.

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Department of Chemical Engineering Federal University of Campina Grande, Brasil simonegallani@hotmail.com 2 Department of Mettalurgical and Materials Engineering, Polytechnic School, University of So Paulo

In the petroleum industry, the oil/water mixture occurs in the operations of production, transportation and refining, as well during the use of derivates. This leads to the problem of how to purify this kind of water and how to improve its quality. Environmental legislation is extremely strict, and demands the industry clean this kind of waste water. Clay can be altered by quaternary organoammonium compounds so as to increase its sorptive capacity and the high adsorption capacity of organoclays make them very useful for treating waste water contamined by oil, graxes and other organic compounds. In this article, the adsorption capacity of organoclay is presented for the oil/water separation process used in the petroleum industry for different solvents such as gasoline, toluene, lubricating oil and kerosene. Brasgel PA (montmorillonite) organoclay was prepared by ion exchange using quaternary ammonium salt, cethyltrimethylammonium bromide, through the direct method (1). The Preparation method consists of Brasgel clay, grain size 200 mesh being added under mechanical agitation in a vessel containing water to produce a concentration of 4% by weight of clay. Thereafter, quaternary ammonium salt to 25% is added in the proportion of 100meq/100g of dry clay. After 20 minutes the dispersion was filtered, washed and subjected to kiln drying. The samples were characterized by x-ray Diffraction (XRD),Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and their adsorption capacity was determined by standard methods of testing the sorbent performance of adsorbents (ASTMF 716-82 and ASTMF 726-99)(2,3).The X-ray diffractograms are shown in Figure 1. From Figure 1 it can be concluded that when in natura clay is treated with quaternary ammonium salt, changes occur in its basal spacing, and there is a significant increase in the basal distance (d001) from 13,29 to 21,01 . In Figure 2, the organoclay showed better adsorption capacity than the clay without treatment. In the SEM micrographs, shown in Figures 3 and 4, we noted that the samples showed heterogeneous distribution of particles, comprising irregular lamellae with many grains of different sizes, causing an irregular distribution of particles (4;5).and it was observed that the intercalation process did not cause substantial variations in the morphology of the montmorillonite, but increased the tendency for clusters to form. In unmodified montmorillonite there was a good equalization and separation of particles, and irregularities in particle shape and in organophilic montmorillonite particles formed large clusters. From this result, it could be concluded that the technique of x-ray diffraction was possible to confirm the achievement of organophilic Brasgel clay, that organoclays have a high adsorption capacity and that the process when treated with salt did not cause significant modifications in the morphology of particles of the montmorilonite. Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to REUNI for financial support References: (1)PEREIRA, K. R. O.; RODRIGUES, M. G. F.; VALENZUELA-DIAZ, F. R. Sntese e caracterizao de argilas organoflicas: comparao no uso de dois mtodos Revista Eletrnica de Materiais e Processos, v. 2, p. 1-8, 2007. (2) Standard methods of testing sorbent performance of adsorbents - Designation; ASTM F726 99. (3) Standard methods of testing sorbent performance of adsorbents - Designation; ASTM F716 82 (Reapproved 1993). (4) LAGALY, G.; Layer charge heterogeneity in vermiculite, Clays and Clay Minerals 30,(1982) 215-222. (5) BONCZEK, J.L.; HARRIS, W. G.; KIZZA, P. N.; Monolayer to bilayer transitional arrangements of hexadecyltrimethylammonium cations on na-montmorillonite, Clays an Clay Minerals, 50, 11, (2002).

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21,01 A

Brasgel Natural Brasgel Organoflica

400
13,29 A

Intensidade (u.a)

300

200

100

0 0 10 20 2 (grau) 30 40 50

Figure 1 Diffractograms of Brasgel organophilic clay and in nature

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adsorptive (g/g de solid)

0 Gasoline Toluene Solvents Kerosene Lubricating oil

Brasgel PA in nature

Brasgel PA Organophilic

Figure 2 The adsorption capacity in gasoline, toluene, kerosene and lubricating oil.

Figure 3 SEM micrographs for Brasgel in nature (1000x and 3500x).

Figure 4 SEM micrographs for Brasgel organophilic(1000x and 3500x).