Prediction of oily water separation efficiency by fiber beds using a new filter media property / Predvidanje efikasnosti separacije ulja iz vode pomocu sloja vlakana koriscenjem nove velicine filtarskog mediuma

Bed coalescers are compact, easy to install, automate, and maintain with the ability to achieve high separation efficiencies. They have been increasingly applied in the industry even though their design often requires pilot plant experiments. In this paper, a new wetting property of polymer fibers regarding polar mineral oils was established. This property can be important for selection of filter media for liquid-liquid separation in many industrial applications. Medical oil was selected as the new reference liquid that does not wet the investigated polymers. The lipophilic/lyophobic ratio (LLR) reached values ranging from 3.28 to 18.81 and increased with the increase of the mineral oil polarity measured by the oil neutralization number. The LLR values were in an excellent agreement with the results obtained from the separation efficiency of a steady-state bed coalescer. Thus, simple, fast and inexpensive experiments can replace pilot plant or at least laboratory testing aiming at selecting a polymer for oil separation from wastewater. Keywords: oily water; fibre bed; coalescence efficiency; polymer fibre wettability; droplet separation Koalescentni filtri su kompaktni, lako se instaliraju, automatizuju i održavaju, postižu visoku efikasnost separacije i sve više se primenjuju u industriji iako su za njihovo projektovanje potrebna poluindustrijska istraživanja. U ovom radu predstavljena je nova velicina (LLR) koja opisuje kvašljivost vlakana polimera polarnim mineralnim uljima. Ta velicina može da posluži za selekciju filtarskog materijala za separaciju konkretnog ulja prisutnog u otpadnoj vodi. Medicinsko belo ulje je odabrano za referentnu nepolarnu tecnost pošto ono ne kvasi vlakna polimera. Velicina LLR dostiže vrednost od 3,28 do 18,81. Velicina LLR raste porastom neutralizacionog broja koje je merilo polarnosti mineralnih ulja. Takode raste porastom viskoznosti ulja. Velicina LLR je u odlicnoj korelaciji sa rezultatima efikasnosti separacije kapi ulja iz otpadne vode korišcenjem koalescentnih filtera. Jednostavan, brz i jeftin test može da zameni skupe poluindustrijske eksperimente koji treba da odaberu adekvatan polimer za separaciju konretnog mineralnog ulja odredenih osobina. Kljucne reci: zauljena voda, sloj vlakana, efikasnost koalescencije, kvašljivost polimernih vlakana, separacija kapi