Enhanced water–oil separation using baffle-aided sedimentation and nanomaterials: a COMSOL-based study

Abstract Water–oil separation if of crucial significance in many practical applications such as petroleum production, wastewater treatment, and environmental remediation is. Investigating and understanding the complex process of separating oil contaminants from water is essential. Utilizing baffle-aided sedimentation in combination with nanomaterials to improve the efficiency of the separation process has attracted increasing attention recently. The objective of this work is to investigate the oil–water separation process for characterizing the effects of various process parameters such as baffle heights, spacing distances, and nanomaterial integration. Commercial simulation programmed COMSOL, which is able to create thorough models of fluid dynamics and interactions, was employed The best results were obtained when the oil fraction was 20%, resulting in the maximum removal rate of 90%. This was superior than an instance with oil fraction ranging from 10 to 5%, which saw large swings over long periods of time before stabilizing. The best oil removal rate was achieved with Nano practical materials at a concentration of 5%. The height of the baffles was 0.8 m, with a spacing of 0.3 m between them, resulting in semi-stable separation rates greater than 90%.