Experimental investigation of oil-water separation using gravity and electrolysis separation

Abstract

This study investigates experimentally the performance of oil-water separation using two methods; gravity separation and electrolysis separation. Conventional oil-water gravity separation tested against numerical and categorical factors are based on a statistical method called the analysis of variance. Therefore, a factorial design experiment is conducted where each factor has a high and low level respectively as follows: water flow rate 4 gal/min and 1 gal/min, oil flow rate 4 gal/min and 1 gal/min, temperature 35⁰C and 25⁰C, number of compartments (2) and (1), and type of separator inlet deflector plate and elbow. These factors are combined in one correlation which describes the process. The developed correlation is able to account 98% of data variability with a 97% success of data prediction which indicates that the correlation describes the operation perfectly. The electrolysis cell separation is conducted using one factor at the time method. It is found that increasing temperature, voltage, and (NaCl) salt increases the performance of oil-water separation, while increasing the pH or the volumetric oil to water ratio acts adversely.