Coagulation enhanced centrifugation for treatment of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated waters

Abstract

A 2x2x3 factorial design experiment was conducted to analyze the effect of operational variables on the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from water. The experimental variables studied included contaminant concentration, coagulant type, coagulant use, and type of source water (pond and brackish). Effectiveness of centrifugation process was evaluated in terms of petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) and turbidity removal. The experimental results showed that centrifugation with coagulation significantly improved the PHC removal. Addition of coagulants prior to centrifugation increased the removal of PHCs by 10 to 14 percent and turbidity by 10 to 35 percent. The effectiveness of coagulation in removing PHCs and turbidity prior to centrifugation was higher at lower PHC concentrations.

Key words:

• Centrifugation
• coagulation
• flocculation
• petroleum hydrocarbons
• oil emulsions
• factorial design
• oil removal

Notes

Corresponding author; e‐mail: [email protected]