Separation of diluted fine-disperse water-oil emulsions by ultraflocculation and floatation

Abstract: Using a fine-disperse emulsion of sunflower oil in water stabilized by sodium dodecyl sulfate it has been shown that ultraflocculation combined with floatation is an effective means of separation of sta- bilized phases of water-oil emulsions whose complete treatment time may constitute < 0.5 min, while the residual concentration of oil in water < 30 mg/dm³; an increase of the medium gradient velocity in the course of flocculation within the range 500–900 s⁻¹ is accompanied by a monotonic decrease of the residual concentration of oil in the water, which makes it possible to effectively separate diluted water-oil emulsions; an increase of the medium velocity gradient in a flocculator to 10⁴ s⁻¹ makes it possible to decrease the time of ultraflocculation treatment to several seconds.