Development of technology for water removal from liquid fuels using hydrogels

• Grant number: 17/12120-1
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Regular Program Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2017
• End date: October 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: Leonardo Vasconcelos Fregolente
• Grantee: Leonardo Vasconcelos Fregolente
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Química (FEQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Maria Regina Wolf Maciel ; Patricia Bogalhos Lucente Fregolente ; Rubens Maciel Filho

Abstract

Liquid fuels such as Aviation Kerosene, Diesel and Biodiesel may incorporate water during their production, transportation or storage. In case of fossil fuels, a considerable part of the water content comes from fractions produced directly from distillation towers, where steam is added for product rectification. Considering biodiesel, as it is basically composed by methyl or ethyl esters of fatty acids, high relative air humidity is sufficient to significantly raise the water content during storage. Water content in liquid fuels leads to some consequences such as contamination by microbial growth, formation of sludge, elevation of fuel turbidity and corrosion of storage tanks and mechanical components of automotive engines. This applied research plan proposes the development of technology that uses polyacrylamide (PAAm) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hydrogels, with other polymers formed such as sodium acrylate, acrylic acid and lactic acid , to remove water from liquid fuels (Aviation Kerosene, Diesel and Biodiesel). In addition to the production of a highly adsorbent polymeric material, this research project aims to develop a laboratory-scale prototype of randomic hydrogel bed and high performance bed made of hydrogel-coated structured Packings produced by Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS). Based on experimental data obtained from this prototype, it will be possible to obtain design parameters for the application of synthesized hydrogels in small beds and on industrial scale. (AU)

Scientific publications

(5)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GONCALVES, HENRIQUE LUIZ; LUCENTE FREGOLENTE, PATRICIA BOGALHOS; WOLF MACIEL, MARIA REGINA; FREGOLENTE, LEONARDO VASCONCELOS. Formulation of hydrogels for water removal from diesel and biodiesel. SEPARATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, v. 56, n. 2, JAN 2020. (17/12120-1, 15/20630-4)

GONCALVES, HENRIQUE LUIZ; FREGOLENTE, PATRICIA BOGALHOS LUCENTE; FREGOLENTE, LEONARDO VASCONCELOS; SOARES, JOAO P. B.. Application of polyacrylamide-based hydrogels for water removal from biodiesel in isothermal experiments. FUEL, v. 306, DEC 15 2021. (15/20630-4, 17/12120-1)

SANTOS, F. B.; MIRANDA, N. T.; SCHIAVON, M. I. R. B.; FREGOLENTE, V, L.; MACIEL, M. R. WOLF. Thermal degradation kinetic of poly(acrylamide-co-sodium acrylate) hydrogel applying isoconversional methods. JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY, JUN 2020. (16/18546-8, 17/12120-1, 18/16269-2, 15/20630-4)

FREGOLENTE, LEONARDO VASCONCELOS; GONCALVES, HENRIQUE LUIZ; FREGOLENTE, PATRICIA BOGALHOS LUCENTE; MACIEL, MARIA REGINA WOLF; SOARES, JOAO B. P.. Sodium polyacrylate hydrogel fixed bed to treat Water-Contaminated cloudy diesel. FUEL, v. 332, p. 10-pg., 2023-01-15. (21/03472-7, 15/20630-4, 17/12120-1)

SANTOS, F. B.; MIRANDA, N. T.; SCHIAVON, M. I. R. B.; FREGOLENTE, V, L.; MACIEL, M. R. WOLF. Thermal degradation kinetic of poly(acrylamide-co-sodium acrylate) hydrogel applying isoconversional methods. JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY, v. 146, n. 6, p. 2503-2514, DEC 2021. (15/20630-4, 16/18546-8, 18/16269-2, 17/12120-1)

Filed patent(s) as a result of this research project