Recovery of heavy oil from heavy oil sorbed exfoliated graphite

Heavy oils sorbed into exfoliated graphite, 80 g of heavy oil per 1 g of exfoliated graphite, could be recovered by both a simple compression and suction filtration with the recovery ratio of 50-80%. In the comparison of the original exfoliated graphite and the exfoliated graphite after suction filtration to recover the heavy oil, a balloon-like texture of the exfoliated graphite is still observed, indicating that the exfoliated graphite can be recycled. Recovered oil showed no differences in molecular weight and hydrocarbon constituent from the original one. No increase of water content in the recovered oils was detected, suggesting preferential sorption of heavy oil into the exfoliated graphite.