Aplicação de tensoativos não iônicos na recuperação de fluidos de perfuração poliméricos

The drilling fluid used to assist in the drilling operation of oil wells, accumulates solids inherent in the formation as it is circulated in the well, interfering in the fluid performance during operation. It is discarded after use. The disposal of these fluids causes one of the most difficult environmental problems in the world. This study aims to promote liquid phase separation of drilling fluids, which have circulated in oil wells, and enable this recovered liquid to formulate a new fluid. For this, non-ionic surfactants were used in order to select the best outcome in phase separation. Five real water-based drilling fluids were utilized, which were collected directly from the fields of drilling oil wells, classified as polymeric fluids. The methodology used consisted in combining the fluid with surfactant and then subjecting it to a process of centrifugation or decantation. The decantating tests were scheduled through experimental planning 23 and 32, using as variables the percentage (%) of surfactant utilized and the stirring time in minutes. The surfactants used were ethoxylated nonylphenol and lauryl alcohol ethoxylated with different degrees of ethoxylation. Phase separation was monitored first by tests of stability, and subsequently by the height of the interface in beakers of 100 mL. The results showed that from the surfactants studied, the lauryl alcohol ethoxylated with 3 ethoxylation units has been the most effective in the phase separation process of the drilling fluids tested. The statistical tool used was of great industrial value regarding the programming phase separation in drilling fluids. In conclusion, the liquid phase separated using surfactant can be reused for a new formulation of drilling fluid with similar properties of a new fluid, assuring its efficiency. And in the resulting analysis it is also suggested that the adsorption is the mechanism that leads the phase separation, with surfactant adsorbing in the active solids

Influência de tensoativos não iônicos na destilação molecular de petróleo

The molecular distillation is show as an alternative for separation and purification of various kinds of materials. The process is a special case of evaporation at high vacuum, in the order from 0.001 to 0.0001 mmHg and therefore occurs at relatively lower temperatures, preserves the material to be purified. In Brazil, molecular distillation is very applied in the separation of petroleum fractions. However, most studies evaluated the temperature of the evaporator, condenser temperature and flow such variables of the molecular distillation oil. Then, to increase the degree of recovery of the fraction of the distillate obtained in the process of the molecular distillation was evaluated the use nonionic surfactants of the class of nonylphenol ethoxylate, molecules able to interact in the liquid-liquid and liquid-vapor interface various systems. In this context, the aim of this work was to verify the influence of commercial surfactant (Ultranex-18 an Ultranex-18-50) in the molecular distillation of a crude oil. The physicochemical characterization of the oil was realized and the petroleum shown an API gravity of 42°, a light oil. Initially, studied the molecular distillation without surfactant using star design experimental (2H ± ) evaluated two variables (evaporator temperature and condenser temperature) and answer variable was the percentage in distillate obtained in the process (D%). The best experimental condition to molecular distillation oil (38% distillate) was obtained at evaporator and condenser temperatures of 120 °C and 10 ° C, respectively. Subsequently, to determine the range of surfactant concentration to be applied in the process, was determined the critical micellar concentration by the technique of scattering X-ray small angle (SAXS). The surfactants Ultranex-18 an Ultranex-18-50 shown the critical micelle concentration in the range of 10-2 mol/L in the hydrocarbons studied. Then, was applied in the study of distillation a concentration range from 0.01 to 0.15 mol/L of the surfactants (Ultranex- 18 and 50). The use of the nonionic surfactant increased the percentage of hydrocarbons in the range from 5 to 9 carbons in comparison to the process carried out without surfactant, and in some experimental conditions the fraction of light compounds in the distilled was over 700% compared to the conventional process. The study showed that increasing the degree of ethoxylation of Ultranex18 to Ultranex-50, the compounds in the range of C5 to C9 reduced the percentage in the distilled, since the increase of the hydrophilic part of the surfactant reduces its solubility in the oil. Finally, was obtained an increase in the degree of recovery of light hydrocarbons, comparing processes with and without surfactant, obtained an increase of 10% and 4% with Ultranex-18 and Ultranex-50, respectively. Thus, it is concluded that the Ultranex- 18 surfactant showed a higher capacity to distillation compared with Ultranex-50 and the application of surfactant on the molecular distillation from petroleum allowed for a greater recovery of light compounds in distillate

Remoção de corantes utilizando tensoativos: extração por ponto de nuvem e floculação iônica

The textile sector is one of the main contributors to the generation of industrial wastewaters due to the use of large volumes of water, which has a high organic load content. In these, it is observed to the presence of dyes, surfactants, starch, alcohols, acetic acid and other constituents, from the various processing steps of the textiles. Hence, the treatment of textile wastewater becomes fundamental before releasing it into water bodies, where they can cause disastrous physical-chemical changes for the environment. Surfactants are substances widely used in separation processes and their use for treating textile wastewaters was evaluated in this research by applying the cloud point extraction and the ionic flocculation. In the cloud point extraction was used as surfactant nonylphenol with 9.5 ethoxylation degree to remove reactive dye. The process evaluation was performed in terms of temperature, surfactant and dye concentrations. The dye removal reached 91%. The ionic flocculation occurs due to the presence of calcium, which reacts with anionic surfactant to form insoluble surfactants capable of attracting the organic matter by adsorption. In this work the ionic flocculation using base soap was applied to the treatment of synthetic wastewater containing dyes belonging to three classes: direct, reactive, and disperse. It was evaluated by the influence of the following parameters: surfactant and electrolyte concentrations, stirring speed, equilibrium time, temperature, and pH. The flocculation of the surfactant was carried out in two ways: forming the floc in the effluent itself and forming the floc before mixing it to the effluent. Removal of reactive and direct dye, when the floc is formed into textile effluent was 97% and 87%, respectively. In the case where the floc is formed prior to adding it to the effluent, the removal to direct and disperse dye reached 92% and 87%, respectively. These results show the efficience of the evaluated processes for dye removal from textile wastewaters.

Tratamento de cascalho de perfuração utilizando sistemas microemulsionados

The oil industry is one of the activities that generates more waste to the environment. The drill cuttings is a waste generated in large quantities in the drilling process and that may cause environmental damage such as soil contamination and consequently the contamination of groundwater if disposed of without prior treatment. Arises the need to develop scientific activities and research ways to adapt these wastes the current environmental standards. In the case of solid wastes, the NBR 10004: 2004 of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) classifies them into class I waste (hazardous) and class II (not dangerous), which determines which wastes may or may not be discarded in the environment without causing environmental impact. This study presents a novel alternative for treating drill cuttings, where this waste was classified as class I (Abreu & Souza, 2005), mainly by removing the n-paraffin present in it, since this arises when using drilling fluids base oil. Using microemulsion systems promotes the removal of this contaminant drill cuttings samples from wells located in Alto do Rodrigues - RN. Initially, we determined the concentration of paraffin using infrared method in samples were extracted with ultrasound, we obtained a paraffin concentration in the range from 36.59 to 43.52 g of paraffin per kilogram of cuttings. Used two microemulsion systems containing two nonionic surfactants from different classes, one is an alcohol ethoxylated (UNTL-90) and the other an nonylphenol ethoxylated (RNX 110). The results indicated that the system UNTL-90 surfactant has better efficiency than the system with RNX 110. The study of the influence of contact time at the extraction showed that for times greater than 25 minutes has a tendency to increase the percentage extraction with increasing contact time. It was also observed that the extraction is fast because at 1 minute contact has 22.7% extraction. The reuse of the microemulsion system without removing the paraffin extracted in previous steps, showed reduction of 29.32 in percentage of extraction by comparing the first and third extraction, but by comparing the first and second extractions reduction is 8.5 in percentage extraction, so the systems reuse optimization can be an option for economically viable removing paraffin from cuttings. The extraction with shaking is more effective in the treatment of cuttings, reaching the extraction percentage of 87.04%, that is, obtaining a drill cuttings with 0.551% paraffin. Using the percentage of paraffin employed in non-aqueous drilling fluids and fluid maximum limit on cuttings for disposal established by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States (US EPA), one arrives at the conclusion that the level of paraffin on gravel cannot exceed 3.93%. Conclude that the amount of paraffin in the treated cuttings with the microemulsion system with shaking is below the established by US EPA, showing that the system used was efficient in removing the paraffin from the drill cuttings.