Purification of fluid catalytic cracking slurry oil at room temperature using ceramic membrane

The catalyst particles were removed from fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) slurry oil by two-step separation processing. FCC slurry oil was mixed with water and surfactant to make the lower viscosity emulsion. The catalyst particles were removed from the emulsion using the modified hydrophobic ceramic membrane (0.1 μm) and then the water was filtered out from oil/water emulsion using an unmodified hydrophilic ceramic membrane (0.05 μm) at room temperature. The separation efficiency of catalyst particles and emulsion reached 99.9% and the oil/water separation efficiency also reached 99.9%. FCC slurry oil was effectively purified at room temperature by a two-step treatment.