Accelerating the separation of emulsified oil products using high electrostatic fields

Abstract To create an oil-based emulsified liquid, a blend of glycerol and biodiesel was stabilized with the aid of sodium oleate as an emulsifier. The time taken by the glycerol to settle down from the biodiesel under the sole effect of gravity has been compared to that attained under the influence of high electrostatic fields. Experiments were designed to study the effect of the employed electrode pairs, electrode distance, and voltage magnitude and polarity on the separation rate of glycerol. High DC voltage measurements and laser beam intensity readings were recorded every second via a computational micro-controller program. Results showed that the time taken to achieve 100% separation completeness under gravity reached 30,000 s (8.3 h). However, when an electrode pair was submerged to the proper height (4 cm apart) and the voltage was set to 2000 V, 99.02% separation completeness was reached within 1800 s (0.5 h). When the effect of the employed electrode pairs was studied, the obtained results revealed that the electrode pairs of different diameters gave the highest percentage of separation completeness and the shortest separation time at 4000 V. Gas chromatography (GC) analysis was performed to biodiesel samples before and after applying the high voltage. The results do not indicate the appearance of any foreign peaks, which confirms that the applied voltage has not create, or even initiate, any chemical reactions. Concerning the physical properties before and after applying the high voltage, insignificant changes has been measured in the density, refractive index, flash point, and water content.