The paper presents a research work on the process of emulsion separation by filtration-coalescence method in the presence of solid particles. A polyester PBT coalescence medium was used in experiments of water removal from diesel fuel. Apart from parameters representing the geometry and inherent properties of coalescence filters, the additional emulsion constituents such as surfactants and solid particles also affect the process. These constituent can cover fibres and they can also influence emulsion properties. It has been experimentally confirmed that contrary to surface active compounds, which stabilise the emulsion, the presence of specific solid particles decreased the system stability. If surface active compounds are present in the system, the influence of solid particles is different at the same concentration level depending on their type. The destabilization of emulsion due to the presence of Arizona dust was more pronounced. Although the presence of particles mitigated the effect of surfactants, their deposition in the filter media oppositely affected the coalescence process depending on solid type. Oleophilic iron oxide particles improved the separation efficiency of water from diesel fuel, while Arizona test dust had a negative impact on the separation process performance.

In this study, the process of membrane cleaning by supercritical fluid extraction was investigated. Polypropylene microfiltration membranes, contaminated with oils, were treated in a batch process with a supercritical fluid (SCF). As extractant, pure supercritical carbon dioxide or supercritical carbon dioxide with admixtures of methanol, ethanol and isopropanol were used. Single-stage and multi-stage extraction was carried out and process efficiency was determined. The obtained results showed that addition of organic solvents significantly enhances the cleaning performance, which increases with increase of organic solvent concentration and decreases with increasing temperature. All three solvents showed a comparable effect of efficiency enhancement. The results confirmed that supercritical fluid extraction can be applied for polypropylene membrane cleaning.

In this work the esterification of diethyl tartrate was studied. The research was focused on the enhancement of reversible reaction yield, which is accomplished by dewatering of the reaction mixture. The removal of water shifts the equilibrium towards the main product. Pervaporation was applied for this purpose, and results were compared to distillation. The advantages and limitations of both processes are discussed. The experimental part consists of dewatering of mixture after the reaction had reached the equilibrium, and was subsequently fed to the test rig equipped with a single zeolite membrane purchased from Pervatech B.V. Results show a significant conversion increase as a result of water removal by pervaporation. Compared to distillation no addition of organics is necessary to efficiently remove water above the azeotrope. Nevertheless, some limitations and issues which call for optimisation are pointed out. A simple numerical model is proposed to support design and sizing of the pervaporation system. Various modes of integrated system operation are also briefly discussed.