ADSORPTIVE RECOVERY OF NAPHTHENIC ACIDS USING ION-EXCHANGE RESINS

Adsorption of naphthenic acids has been studied on commercial weak and strong anion-exchange resins. The capacity and equilibrium constant o f adsorption on these resins are compared with those obtained with zeo lites, bentonite and polyvinyl pyridine. Macroporous weakly anionic io n-exchange resins with weak tertiary amine group have good adsorption capacity for the removal of naphthenic acids from petroleum oil as com pared to strong anion-exchange resins with isoporous structure althoug h the strong anion-exchange resin shows greater interaction with napht henic acids. The rate of uptake of naphthenic acid is governed by the internal diffusional resistance which is also dependent on adsorbed ph ase concentration.