Sepg. mixt. contg. organic material - esp. oil-in-water emulsion, by filtering through densely packed oleophilic adsorbent

摘要

Method for sepg. mixts. consisting of organic materials, esp. hydrocarbons, and water, steam or air, such as oil-in-water emulsions, use a hydrophobic, oleophilic adsorbant formed as a filter layer. The individual adsorbant particles are so compressed that the channels between them have dia. about the same as the smallest colloidal particles of hydrocarbon in the emulsion being passed through. Pref. the emulsion is passed through quite quickly, e.g. 3m/sec., and several adsorbant layers in series can be used. The adsorbant is e.g. a resin, silica gel, kieselguhr, natural silicate, alumina, metal hydroxide, etc., esp. highly-dispersed mica of bulk density 100-200 g/l. The method is esp. useful for treating water polluted with oil and can be applied on a large or small scale, e.g. in individual motor boats to clean bilge water. The filters are relatively small and inexpensive, are resistant to high temp. and seawater, and provide high filtration speeds at low pressure drops (e.g. 7m/sec. with a pressure drop of only 0.3 bar).