Joule and photothermal heating techniques for oil desorption with techno-economic feasibility and environmental impact analysis

Siyoung Byun; Muhammad Usman Farid; Manoj Kumar Nallapaneni; Shauhrat S. Chopra; Sangyong Nam; Alicia Kyoungjin An; Sanghyun Jeong

doi:10.1038/s41545-024-00387-6

Author(s)

Siyoung Byun
Sangyong Nam
Alicia Kyoungjin An
Sanghyun Jeong

Related Research Unit(s)

School of Energy and Environment

Detail(s)

Original language	English
Article number	91
Journal / Publication	npj Clean Water
Volume	7
Online published	17 Sept 2024
Publication status	Published - 2024

Link(s)

DOI	DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-024-00387-6 Final Published version
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Attachment(s)	Documents 248944709.pdf Final Published version, 4.75 MB, PDF Publisher's Copyright Statement This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Link to Scopus	https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85204175963&origin=recordpage
Permanent Link	https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/publications/publication(39032705-fbf6-45d8-a30e-5617d104979d).html

Abstract

Joule and photothermal heating offer promising avenues for enhancing oil recovery, desorption, and reusability by reducing the viscosity of highly viscous oils, thereby facilitating their mobility on sorbent surface. This study developed a heatable reduced graphene oxide nanoribbon (r-GONR)-coated polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) oil sorbent to address these viscosity challenges. The application of heating increased oil desorption by approximately 50%, significantly outperforming the conventional PVDF mat. The r-GONR sorbent, leveraging the photothermal effect, demonstrated exceptional reusability, maintaining 40% oil desorption efficiency up to the 10th cycle. Furthermore, its high oil desorption and reusability translated into considerable economic benefits, with a revenue potential of 6.4–29.0 $/m², alongside significant environmental impact reduction. This study introduces a novel, sustainable approach to oil desorption and reuse, underscoring the practical applications of heatable materials in enhancing oil recovery. © The Author(s) 2024.