Preparation and characterization of alumina hollow fiber membrane for oilfield produced water treatment

Abstract

Currently one of the greatest challenges of humanity is the preservation of the environment, especially in relation to natural water sources. An efficient way to treat aqueous effluents is with the use of the membranes separation process. At present ceramic hollow fiber membrane has been extensively explored and fabricated via extrusion. In this study, the alumina hollow fiber membrane was fabricated through the phase inversion technique, with variations in sintering temperature, composition and processing parameters to verify the efficiency of membranes in effluent treatment. Morphological investigation revealed that the membranes had an asymmetric structure even after the sintering process. Porosity decreased inversely proportionally as the firing rate increased, the membranes presented porosity above 30%. In addition, due to the sintering temperature, the mechanical resistance reached 35 MPa. The membranes manufactured in this study have a broad potential to be applied in oil–water separation with an efficiency above 90%.