Polyacrylonitrile Ultrafiltration Membrane for Separation of Used Engine Oil

Abstract

The separation of used engine oil (UEO) with an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane made of commercial copolymer of poly(acrylonitrile-co-methyl acrylate) (P(AN-co-MA)) has been investigated. The P(AN-co-MA) sample was characterized by using FTIR spectroscopy, 13C NMR spectroscopy, and XRD. The UF membrane with a mean pore size of 23 nm was fabricated by using of non-solvent-induced phase separation method—the casting solution of 13 wt.% P(AN-co-MA) in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) was precipitated in the water bath. Before the experiment, the used engine oil was diluted with toluene, and the resulting UEO solution in toluene (100 g/L) was filtered through the UF membrane in the dead-end filtration mode. Special attention was given to the evaluation of membrane fouling; for instance, the permeability of UEO solution was dropped from its initial value of 2.90 L/(m2·h·bar) and then leveled off at 0.75 L/(m2·h·bar). However, the membrane cleaning (washing with toluene) allowed a recovery of 79% of the initial pure toluene flux (flux recovery ratio), indicating quite attractive membrane resistance toward irreversible fouling with engine oil components. The analysis of the feed, retentate, and permeate by various analytical methods showed that the filtration through the UF membrane made of P(AN-co-MA) provided the removal of major contaminants of used engine oil including polymerization products and metals (rejection—96.3%).