IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,065,602
Granted Patent B2
US 11,065,602 · App. 16/336,041 · Granted Jul 20, 2021

Recovery of crude oil from a crude oil adsorbent and simultaneous regeneration of the adsorbent

Inventors: Samson Oluwagbemiga Alayande (Ibadan, NG); Enock Olugbenga Dare (Abeokuta, NG); Akinola Kehinde Akinlabi (Abeokuta, NG); Peter Olaitan Aiyedun (Ibadan, NG); Titus A. M. Msagati (Roodepoort, ZA)
Assignee: University of South Africa
B01J20/3475B01D17/02B01D17/0202B01D39/16B01D41/00B01J20/261B01J20/28007B01J20/28023B01J20/28038B01J20/3425C02F1/285C02F1/40C02F1/44E02B15/045E02B15/101C02F2101/32C02F2303/16E02B15/041Y02A20/204
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,065,602
App. No.
16/336,041
Granted
Jul 20, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method of recovering crude oil from crude oil drenched adsorbent and simultaneously regenerating the adsorbent to render it suitable for re-use in crude oil adsorption. The method includes contacting crude oil drenched adsorbent, in the form of solid nanofibrous expanded polystyrene drenched with adsorbed crude oil, with a non-polar solvent, thereby obtaining regenerated crude oil lean adsorbent and crude oil rich solvent.

Claims (9)

1. A process of treating crude oil contaminated water to remove crude oil therefrom, the process including

feeding crude oil contaminated water into a treatment tank containing crude oil adsorbent in the form of solid nanofibrous expanded polystyrene, thus contacting the crude oil contaminated water with crude oil adsorbent and obtaining crude oil drenched adsorbent and treated water;

withdrawing treated water from the treatment tank, leaving crude oil drenched adsorbent remaining in the treatment tank; and

feeding a non-polar solvent in the form of n-hexane into the treatment tank, thus contacting the crude oil drenched adsorbent remaining in the treatment tank with the non-polar solvent and obtaining regenerated crude oil lean adsorbent and crude oil rich solvent;

withdrawing the crude oil rich solvent from the treatment tank, leaving the crude oil lean adsorbent remaining in the treatment tank; and

feeding fresh crude oil contaminated water into the treatment tank, thus contacting crude oil contaminated water with the crude oil lean adsorbent and obtaining crude oil drenched adsorbent and treated water.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment tank comprises at least two series-connected treatment tanks, and the process includes

passing treated water withdrawn from an upstream treatment tank into a downstream treatment tank, to contact crude oil contained in the treated water with fresh adsorbent or regenerated adsorbent contained in the downstream treatment tank; or

passing crude oil rich solvent withdrawn from a downstream treatment tank, to contact crude oil drenched adsorbent contained in the upstream treatment tank with the crude oil rich solvent.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 21, 2020
From: ALAYANDE, SAMSON OLUWAGBEMIGA; DARE, ENOCK OLUGBENGA; AKINLABI, AKINOLA KEHINDE; AIYEDUN, PETER OLAITAN; MSAGATI, TITUS A. M.
To: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
Reel/Frame 051564/0316 →
Priority Claims (1)
ZA 2016/06582 · Sep 23, 2016 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190217274A1 · Jul 18, 2019
Cited By (1)
US 12,385,818