Purification of emulsified oil by Bentonite loaded polyvinylidene fluoride/polyvinylpyrrolidone membrane

Abstract

Abstract In this study, a Bentonite clay incorporated polyvinylfluoride (PVDF) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) based adsorbent membrane was produced for the selective separation of oils from simulated wastewater. This membrane was produced as an intelligent material that selectively separates emulsified oils from water when it is used as adsorbent and purifies water when it is used in continuous membrane filtration. The affinity of the membrane to oil components was determined by water-oil uptake tests. The uptake experiments were conducted for soybean oil, hazelnut oil, lubricant oil and other volatile oils. As a result, membranes absorbed greater than 200 wt.% of oil when the membranes were immersed in the soybean oil, hazelnut oil and lubricant oil. When the same membranes were used for continuous filtration, greater than 85% of oil rejection values were obtained. As the PVP ratio in the membrane increased, flux values enhanced gradually. Bentonite incorporation simultaneously improved flux values and oil rejection remarkably. The soybean rejection increased from 69.1% to 90.9%, hazelnut oil rejection increased from 78% to 99.98%, and lubricant oil rejection enhanced from 80.5% to 96.5% when the bentonite amount was increased from 0 wt.% to 15 wt.%.