Application of Electrostatic Fields in the Separation of Emulsified Oil Prod-ucts

Abstract

Energy resources are among the most essential inputs to the global economic system. The majority of energy consumption worldwide comes from fossil fuels, which are derived from fossil materials such as coal, oil, natural gas, etc. These sources will eventually vanish and, more significantly, they are not environment-friendly. Many researchers have explored alternative sources of energy such as: wind, solar, tidal, and biodiesel, which are considered renewable energies and are industrially desirable. Biodiesel is a biofuel that has suitable features to replace, or be blended with, the petroleum diesel. It is produced from the blend of a vegetable oil and an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. Such chemical reaction leaves the biodiesel in an emulsion state with glycerol. This thesis studies the acceleration of separating glycerol from the biodiesel using electrostatic forces. A series of experimental investigations have been conducted to explore the effect of the employed electrode Pairs, electrode distance, and concentration of emulsifier, voltage magnitude and polarity on the separation rate of glycerol. A 25-stage Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier has been implemented to generate high DC voltage up to 7000 V.