Comparative analysis of Calotropis procera and Ceiba pentandra fibre-based filters used to separate oil from emulsified effluent

Abstract

This research compared the filters made of kapok and milkweed fibres, which separated 5 μm and 2 μm droplets from oily wastewater with 5% oil concentration. Kapok and milkweed fibre coalescence filters were constructed with varying porosity and bed heights, specifically 10 mm, 20 mm, and 30 mm. The emulsion was pumped at a rate of 2 mL min⁻¹ through the filter column by a peristaltic pump. Methods employed in calculating oil concentration, oil droplet size, oil saturation, experimental calculations, and other tests were conducted. This research contributes to the development of efficient filtration materials by comparing kapok and milkweed fibres for separating oily wastewater droplets. A key quantitative finding is that the milkweed fibre filter achieved a higher separation efficiency of 93%, compared to 89.6% for the kapok fibre filter, at a bed height of 30 mm and 0.98 porosity. According to the study, milkweed fibre beds had a lower oil saturation than kapok fibre filters. As the number of filter cycles increases, the oil saturation in the bed decreases significantly.