Copolymer Membrane Fabrication for Highly Efficient Oil-in-Water Emulsion Separation

The microfiltration membrane separation process in oil effluent treatment was investigated experimentally. The flux of poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) with 25 wt % (SAN25) and 30 wt % (SAN30) of acrylonitrile fraction using different solvents in two different feed types (distilled water and 5000 mg L-1 stabilized oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion) was studied. In the case of the O/W emulsion, the performance of the membranes was evaluated using oil rejection. The chemical oxygen demand test was used to analyze the oil concentration in the permeate and to calculate the rejection. The results show a decline in the O/W treatment flux in comparison with the distilled water. The water permeate of SAN25 using dimethylformamide and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone was 200 and 170 L m(-2)h(-1), respectively, and permeate flux values of 290 and 210 L m(-2)h(-1) were obtained using SAN30.