Enhancing the demulsification performance using metal-organic frameworks
with amphipathic microdomain
Abstract
Demulsification is an important process for dehydration of crude oil and
environmental remediation. The intrinsic structure of metal-organic
frameworks (MOFs) endows MOFs with amphipathicity and meets the
requirement of demulsifier. Herein, we studied the demulsification
performance, process and characteristic using MIL-100(Fe). The
amphipathicity of MIL-100(Fe) is crucial for demulsification. The
demulsification efficiency (DE) for model emulsion excessed 99% within
30 min at optimal condition, and dehydration efficiency for crude oil
emulsion was up to 79% within 5 min. The DE can be maintained when the
pH ranged from 10.0 to 4.0, and it increased along with an increase of
salinity (1~1000 mmol•L-1). Component analysis revealed
that the degradation of sodium dodecyl sulfonate occurred by an
abstraction of SO32-, which could eliminate the potential risk of
emulsifying again. Therefore, this study confirmed that enhancing the
interaction with emulsion is an effective strategy for new demulsifier
to against the harsh conditions.