TiO2-SiO2 nanoparticle-stabilised soybean oil-in-water emulsions: dispersion stability, rolling lubrication performance and surface self-cleaning effects

Vegetable oil-in-water (VO/W) emulsions are common cold rolling lubricants. However, maintaining the required dispersion for polar oil droplets for consistent lubrication and proper surface self-cleaning after rolling remains a practical challenge. In this study, titanium silicate TiO2-SiO2 nanoparticle (NP) stabilised soybean oil emulsions are produced and NPs function as dispersant, lubrication enhancer, and detergent agent to clean up oil residue are explored. Cold rolling of SS316 reveals a threshold of NPs wt %, at which stably dispersed oil droplets improve tribology and lower the rolling parameters relative to that without or at high wt % of NPs. Cleaner as-rolled strips are also obtained with NPs. Favourable results are attributed to formation of NP-coating layers on oil droplets which enhances dispersion, optimises plate-out while keeping adequate wetting, and provides a 3-body abrasive rolling as opposed to 2-body adhesion without NPs. A model of sliding-rolling lubrication in cold rolling is also discussed.

Thermocracking of a heavy fraction of the oil residue in a mixture with shale

The process of tar thermal cracking in a mixture with crushed oil shale to obtain components of motor fuels and raw materials for the process of thermal cracking is investigated in this paper. The optimization results of technological parameters (shale concentration, temperature, and duration) are presented and the material balance (mass.%) of the process is made. It was found that during single-stage processing under relatively mild conditions (5 MPa, 425C, feed space velocity of 1.0 h-1), a deep destruction of tar is achieved (the yield of the gasoline fraction from boiling point to 200C is ~12 wt.%; medium distillates with boil. point 200370C-43-44 mass.%; raw materials for thermal cracking with boil. point above 370C ~15-16 wt.% on per the original tar). The generating coke-like products and the V and Ni contained in the raw materials are deposited on the mineral part of the shale and removed from the reaction zone with the liquid products of the process.

Determination of optimal conditions for processing oil bottom sediments using electrohydraulic effect

Currently, there is an interest in effective technologies that cause minimal environmental harm, have low financial costs and allow you to obtain products with high added value. One of the ways to increase the yield of light and medium fractions from oil bottom sediments is to use the electrohydraulic effect. The electrohydraulic phenomenon is a new industrial method of converting electrical energy into mechanical energy, which occurs without the influence of intermediate mechanical links, with high efficiency. Statistical processing of experimental data was carried out with the identification of the optimal mode of the electrohydraulic effect on the destruction of the oil bottom sediment. The influence of various factors is shown (duration of contact, distance between electrodes, amount of added catalyst, capacitance of capacitor and value of applied voltage). The use of the generalized equation made it possible to determine the following optimal conditions for the destruction of the oil bottom sediment using electrohydraulic treatment: duration 7 min, distance 8 mm, amount of added catalyst 1.5 %, capacitance 0.3 μF, applied voltage 14 kV. In terms of the significance of the coefficient (tr), it should be noted that the dominant factors are the distance between the electrodes and the amount of added catalyst. The individual chemical composition of the light and medium fractions of the original oil residue and the processed oil residue was determined. Comparison of the individual chemical composition of fractions up to 200 °С and 200–300 °С, obtained from the oil bottom sediment and from the hydrogenated product, allows to conclude that the electrohydraulic effect has an effective effect on the destruction of the organic mass of the oil bottom sediment. The optimal conditions for electrohydraulic treatment of the oil residue aere established and it is shown that it is possible to utilize the oil bottom sediments

Mercury levels in Tarmat Contaminated Beaches and its Marine Organisms living along the Qatari Coasts

One of the pollutants that affects the coastal environment of Qatar is the vast expanse of oil residue ‘tarmats’ deposited on its beaches. The current study is aimed at gauging the concentration levels of total mercury (THg) in tarmat contaminated sediments and test their presence in selected coastal species. Three biota classes (Gastropoda, Bivalvia, and Crustacea) have been found on the tarmat of Ras Rakan and Umm Tais islands. Layers of hard asphalt-like tarmats and sediments samples were collected from 34 sites, along the coast of Qatar. Moreover, the Biota Sediment Accumulation Factor (BSAF) was calculated for THg through sentinel species. The mean concentrations of THg is 0.089 ± 0.02 μg.g-1. Compared to earlier studies, a relatively higher concentration of THg (0.463 μg.g-1) had been observed.

Distribution, Characterization and Weathering of Tarmats along the West Coast of Qatar

Oil residue in the form of tarmat (TM) deposited on the coast of Arabian Gulf countries is a major environmental concern. In this study, the current TM pollution trend along the west coast of Qatar has been assessed and compared with historical deposition trend. The range of TM distribution is 0–104 g m-1 with an average value of 9.25 g m-1. Though the current TM level is thirty-fold lesser than that was found during 1993–1997 (average 290 g m-1), the distribution pattern is similar. The chemical composition and structural characterization of TMs were studied using an ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, which indicated the presence of higher aromatic compounds in the north (N) coast TMs than those found in the northwest (NW) and southwest (SW) coasts. TM of NW coast is highly weathered compared to those found in the N and SW coasts. We found that the ATR-FTIR spectroscopic method is a rapid approach to characterize and study the weathering of TMs without any tedious sample preparation or solvent extraction.