Enhanced Purification of Oil-in-Water Emulsions Using Polymer Membranes Treated in a DC Corona-Discharge Field

Abstract

Separation of oil-in-water emulsions based on I-20A industrial oil and Kosintol-242 surfactant by membranes made of polyethersulfone (PES) with a molecular-mass cut-off of 50 kDa and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with a molecular-mass cut-off of 60 kDa that were treated in a DC (unipolar) corona-discharge field is investigated. It is shown that the performance increases for filter elements of modified PES and remains the same if electretized PAN membranes are used. Additionally, the separation efficiency of the emulsion increases for both types of membranes after processing in a DC corona-discharge field.