The objective of this project was to develop a continuous oil/seawater separation process that could be deployed in arctic conditions aboard oil skimming vessels to recover a majority of skimmed oil while producing an oil-free water stream that could be safely discharged. This separation technique relies on the coupling of electrically conducting ultrafiltration membranes with ferromagnetic nanoparticle-stabilized oil droplets allowing for efficient collection and separation of spilled oil without the need for storing vast volumes of contaminated water. The process includes the following steps:
The recovered oil/water mixture is mixed with ferromagnetic nanoparticles (MNs). This mixture is then sent through an ultrafiltration membrane to separate the oil from the water. The separated oil is stripped of the MNs which can then be reused. The oil-free water can theoretically then be discharged.
This project resulted in a bench scale oil/water separation treatment prototype which was able to produce a discharge stream containing less than 7 ppm hydrocarbon.
The final report is complete and posted below.