Preparação de membranas tubulares compósitas e sua avaliação na separação de emulsão óleo/água: utilização e reutilização.

Abstract

In this work, polymeric tubular membranes (PEUAPM) and composites (PEUAPM/ organophilic Chocolate B and PEUAPM/zeolite Mordenite) were produced by sintering for their use and reuse in the oil/water emulsion separation process. The same deals with the effect of the incorporation of 1, 3 and 5% by mass of organophilic Chocolate B clay or Mordenite zeolite and different sintering times (60, 90 and 120 min) in the performance of PEUAPM based membranes. The PEUAPM was characterized by the techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The natural and organophilic Chocolate B clay was characterized by the techniques of XRD, Cation Exchange (CTC), Infrared Spectroscopy by Fourrier Transform (FTIR), Thermogravimetric (TG), SEM and X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy by Energy Dispersive (FRX-ED), while the Mordenite zeolite was characterized by DRX, FRX-ED and MEV. The XRD confirmed that PEUAPM is a semi-crystalline polymer, as well as SEM has proved that it is basically composed of particle agglomerates of different sizes. TG evidenced that membranes will be able to withstand moderate temperature variations without losing their structural integrity. Characterization techniques (XRD, FTIR, TG) evidenced the effective intercalation of the quaternary ammonium cations in the interlamellar layers of the clay. From the results obtained for the synthesis of mordenite zeolite confirmed that its obtaining was effective with formation of pure and crystalline phase mordenite zeolite. Tests of chemical resistance, water absorption capacity and porosity were performed, as well as characterization of XRD and MEV of polymeric and composite tubular membranes. The results of the membranes allowed to infer that both the incorporation of Chocolate B clay and the Mordenite zeolite caused improvements in the composite membranes, considering that by the XRD there was confirmation of the intercalation process of the polymer chains between the layers of the organophilic Chocolate B clay. When compared to the results of the polymer membranes, it was observed that the composite tubular membranes presented better stability and chemical and physical resistance with tests of water absorption capacity, chemical resistance and porosity. The incorporation of the organophilic Chocolate B clay and the Mordenite zeolite resulted in an increase in the fluxes as well as an increase in the rejection percentage (up to 90.67%) of the membranes when compared to the polymeric tubular membranes. The process of cleaning the reused membranes has proved to be efficient, obtaining more than 99% of its recovered flux, as well as more than 95% of its restored rejection potential. In this way, the composite membranes are configured as promising materials in the treatment of oily effluents.