A novel silica-supported polyether polysiloxane quaternary ammonium demulsifier for highly efficient fine-sized oil droplet removal of oil-in-water emulsions

The existence of fine-sized oil drops that are difficult to coalesce greatly decreases the separation efficiency of produced water from alkali, surfactant, and polymer flooding technology (ASP) containing oil-in-water emulsions. To improve oil–water separation efficiency, a silica-supported polyether polysiloxane quaternary ammonium (abbreviated as PPQA@SiO(2)) demulsifier was synthesized. The supported demulsifier possesses a rough surface structure and large surface area. In addition, it displays high thermal stability. It was applied for treating the produced water from ASP flooding. The effects of dosage, treatment temperature and treatment time on the oil removal efficiency from ASP produced water were investigated. Owing to the synergetic effect of demulsification and adsorption, the supported demulsifier exhibited an oil removal greater than 92% within 50 min at the initial oil concentration of 300 mg L(−1), which is much higher than that of a commercial demulsifier SA001 (40.33%). Furthermore, the demulsification mechanism was explored from the perspective of the zeta potential, mean diameter and size distribution of the oil droplets. The high oil removal efficiency establishes PPQA@SiO(2) as a promising candidate for oil–water separation from the ASP flooding produced wastewater.