Sub-chronic Toxicity of Defoamer Used in Seawater Desalination

Objective To explore the possible long‐term health effects of the defoamer used in seawater desalination by sub‐chronic toxicity testing. Methods Blood analysis, internal organ assessment, and histopathological examination were carried out in rats exposed to low, medium, and high(0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g/kg BW, respectively) doses of defoamer for 90 days through oral administration. Results The high dose group showed decreased blood alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase(P < 0.05). All doses resulted in a significant increase in albumin and decrease in globulin(P < 0.05). The direct bilirubin and indirect bilirubin were decreased in the medium and high dose groups(P < 0.05). All dose groups showed significant induction of alkaline phosphatase(P < 0.05). Pathological examination revealed a case of liver mononuclear cell infiltration in the medium dose group and three cases of liver congestion, steatosis of hepatic cells around the central vein, and punctate necrosis with multiple focal mononuclear cell infiltration in male rats administered the high dose. The No Observed Adverse Effect Level was 0.5 g/kg BW in rats, with albumin and total bilirubin as health effect indices. Conclusion Long‐term defoamer exposure may cause liver injury but has no significant impact on renal function in rats. The effect on blood cells in female rats was more prominent than that in male rats.

Possible Synergistic Toxicity of Oxygen Scavenger and Defoamer on the Niger Delta Freshwater <i>Tilapia guineensis</i>

Globally, the generation of produced water keeps increasing due to depleting wells and about 40% of this wastewater is disposed of into the environment. Produced water is made up of several components that are toxic in nature, like production chemicals that are used for oil and gas production activities. Oxygen scavenger and defoamer are commonly used for corrosion prevention as both are applied at different stages of corrosion prevention. Evaluation of the possible synergistic toxicity contribution of oxygen scavenger and defoamer formed the basis of this research and was conducted using the Tilapia guineensis as bio-indicator. The toxicity test was carried out using the ELIMINOX (oxygen scavenger) and EC9017A (defoamer) individually and both chemicals were combined together. The choice of these chemicals was premised on previous researches that have confirmed that they are toxic individually, without further research on how they interact when they are combined. These chemicals and freshwater were used to generate produced water samples in the laboratory. The experiment was set up by adding ten fishes into each of the glass containers, containing the produced water samples at different concentrations and a control sample without the chemicals. The rate of mortality of the fish for the individual chemicals ranged from 100% to 10% for the different percentage concentrations. While on the other hand, a combination of the two chemicals had more survival than mortality, the percentage survival rate ranged from 100% to 90% across all the percentage concentrations. The lethal concentration also showed that the oxygen scavenger was more toxic than the defoamer, however, when they were combined;they showed an antagonistic relationship as the toxicity of the oxygen scavenger drastically reduced. The research findings intend to create awareness of the possible interaction of production chemicals when they are used for oil and gas activities and their combined toxicity contribution to produced water. This will in turn aid government regulators in their decision-making for disposal of produced water.

A novel cationic collector for silicon removal from collophane using reverse flotation under acidic conditions

We analyzed a novel cationic collector using chemical plant byproducts,such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide(CTAB)and dibutyl phthalate(DBP).Our aim is to establish a highly effective and economical process for the removal of quartz from collophane.A microflotation test with a 25 mg·L^(−1)collector at pH value of 6-10 demonstrates a considerable difference in the floatability of pure quartz and fluorapatite.Flotation tests for a collophane sample subjected to the first reverse flotation for magnesium removal demonstrates that a rough flotation process(using a 0.4 kg·t−1 new collector at pH=6)results in a collophane concentrate with 29.33wt%P_(2)O_(5)grade and 12.66wt%SiO2 at a 79.69wt%P_(2)O_(5)recovery,providing desirable results.Mechanism studies using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,zeta potential,and contact angle measurements show that the adsorption capacity of the new collector for quartz is higher than that for fluorapatite.The synergistic effect of DBP increases the difference in hydrophobicity between quartz and fluorapatite.The maximum defoaming rate of the novel cationic collector reaches 142.8 mL·min−1.This is considerably higher than that of a conventional cationic collector.

Rheological Properties of Self-compacting Concrete Paste Containing Chemical Admixtures

Self-compacting concrete （SCC） was used for the filling layer of CRTSⅢ plate ballastless track, which needs excellent workability. The rheological properties of SCC cement paste containing chemical admixtures （CA） such as polycarboxylate-based superplasticizer （PCE）, air-entraining agent （AE） and defoamer （DF） were investigated using a Brookfield R/S SST2000 soft solid tester with a vane geometry spindle. The cementitious materials were designed as one, two and, three components systems by addition of ordinary portland cement （OPC） with these chemical admixtures. The rheological properties of one-component system （PCE paste） were improved with increasing the content of PCE. For two components systems of PCE-AE and PCE-DF, yield stress and plastic viscosity reduced firstly and increased afterward with the increasing of AE content. And the plastic viscosity reached the optimum when the content of AE is 0.004wt%. In general, the trend of yield stress and plastic viscosity decreased with the increasing of the DF content. For three components systems, PCE-AE-DF systems, the rheological properties were improved compared with the sample with AE or DF, which attributed to mixes of the active components mentioned above （CA） which could have a synergetic effect.

Lattice Boltzmann study of the interaction between a single solid particle and a thin liquid film

The isothermal single-component multi-phase lattice Boltzmann method(LBM)combined with the particle motion model is used to simulate the detailed process of liquid film rupture induced by a single spherical particle.The entire process of the liquid film rupture can be divided into two stages.In Stage 1,the particle contacts with the liquid film and moves into it due to the interfacial force and finally penetrates the liquid film.Then in Stage 2,the upper and lower liquid surfaces of the thin film are driven by the capillary force and approach to each other along the surface of the particle,resulting in a complete rupture.It is found that a hydrophobic particle with a contact angle of 106.7°shows the shortest rupture duration when the liquid film thickness is less than the particle radius.When the thickness of the liquid film is greater than the immersed depth of the particle at equilibrium,the time of liquid film rupture caused by a hydrophobic particle will be increased.On the other hand,a moderately hydrophilic particle can form a bridge in the middle of the liquid film to enhance the stability of the thin liquid film.