Estudo das variáveis operacionais do processo de separação petróleo-água, utilizando flotação por ar dissolvido

Abstract

In the petroleum industry, the mixture of oil and water (oily water) is in the stages of production, transportation, terminals and refining as well as during the use of oil and its derivatives. More specifically in the stage of oil production, is the common appearance of water from the aquifer in an area located below the producing formation, or the mechanism of secondary recovery by injection of water. A major problem faced by the petroleum industry is the specification of water for reinjection in oil wells and / or natural gas. The effectiveness of this type of effluent treatment by the process of separation by flotation was confirmed by the literature. The aim of this study is the individual effects and interaction of some operating variables for a Floating column used in the separation of synthetic oil-water emulsion, to enhance the efficiency of the dissolved air flotation - FAD. The variables studied were the pilot scale for initial concentration of the effluent, the flow of food and rate of reflux (recirculated / food). The performance of the separation system was measured by the content of oils and greases (Tog) of effluent. Analyzing the effects of individual variables from a factorial design of experiments, we observed that the variable of greatest influence on the rate of removal is the flow of food and that the interaction between flow and reflux is quite significant.