Utilization of electroflotation in remediation of oily wastewater

This paper deals with removal of finely dispersed oil from oil-water emulsions of different Egyptian oil crudes by either batchwise or continuous processes. Experiments were carried out in electroflotation cells equipped with a set of electrodes mounted in the cell bottoms. The effect of various operating and design parameters was studied. The recommended conditions for operating batch runs were as follows: current density from 5 to 20 mA/cm(2), pH = 6, and temperature from 30 to 40degreesC. According to the data obtained from continuous runs, at almost complete separation of oil, the minimum power consumption was 0.08 kWh/m(3) of a 200 mg/L emulsion flowed at 300 mL/min.