Separation of water-in-oil emulsion with microfiber glass coalescing bed

Water-in-oil emulsion separation through a fibrous media bed is a complex and challenging process in industries. In this article, we used a vertical column separator to investigate the effects of the height and porosity of the fiber bed, the structure arrangement (the mixed or the layered fibrous bed), the superficial velocity of the water-in-oil emulsion through the bed, and the influent water content of the emulsion on water removal. Four kinds of glass microfibers (GF1-GF4) with mean diameters of 0.6, 2.6, 4.6, and 8.0?µm, respectively, acted as the coalescence medium and composed the fibrous bed with different structure types. The separation efficiency could reach 97.1% with a relatively low pressure drop under the optimal bed structure and operational conditions. It also showed that the mixed bed had higher separation performance compared to the layered fibrous bed.