Successful development of sewage treatment level of 3D printing skimmers increase in sight

By 3D printing technology in computer-aided design (CAD), freeform fabrication processing advantages and device forming areas, LICP researchers developed oil-based 3D printing / water separation module manufacturing platform, creating a separation of the oil / water network cap and bottom of the container consisting of skimmers. Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of recent material surface and interface research group take advantage of 3D printing advanced manufacturing technology and traditional means of integration of surface engineering to achieve efficient separation and collection of oil on the water. With the increasing people\’s awareness of environmental protection, oil skimmer and oily wastewater collection problems of industrial and offshore oil spills and other pollution incidents must be resolved. In recent years, by nature, such as lotus leaf superhydrophobic surfaces, the water strider legs, like onion skin inspiration, biomimetic (super) hydrophobic – lipophilic porous material such as a sponge, Aerogels and the like are widely wire mesh Research and oil-water separator for the field, showing larger applications. However, since the porous material of the main oil reservoir through the micro-nano pores thereof to achieve water separation, resulting in its limited storage capacity, low absorption capacity, but also requires post-extrusion step of collecting and cleaning difficulties, poor reusability. So how low cost to collect the oil slick from the spill site quickly and easily remains a challenging task. By 3D printing technology in computer-aided design (CAD), freeform fabrication processing advantages and device forming areas, LICP researchers developed oil-based 3D printing / water separation module manufacturing platform, creating a separation of the oil / water network cap and bottom of the container consisting of skimmers. Having excellent hydrophobic – lipophilic 3D mesh cap printing effect achieved by filtration to rapidly separate and tall oil stored in the bottom of the container, in order to achieve gasoline, oil, various mineral oil and tall oil separation efficiency synchronous collection. Compared with the oil-absorbing porous blankets and other oil / water separating material, which has separated from the skimmers collected simultaneously, high oil collection rate, easy to clean, reusable, and other advantages. At the same time, the collected oil has good storage stability in the container, will not be second leak even when fierce oscillation, a significant ups and downs, fall and other analog waves, storms, proved that in harsh environments Adaptability. Further, 3D printing, actual needs of advanced manufacturing technology design, manufacture of different pore size and capacity of the oil / water separator assembly according. 3D printing oil / water separation and easy manufacturing techniques and platformsAdvantages in the design and manufacture as well as the oil slick and efficient separation and collection synchronized such that it is expected to be directly mounted to ship oil spill site fast, efficient, low-cost marine clean-up work. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences focused on the deployment of the light support and west of Training Program, LICP Distinguished Talent Program and Gansu Pu Rui special Technology Limited.