Abstract
Produced water (PW) is the most significant waste stream generated in the oil and gas industries. The generated PW has the potential to be a useful water source rather than waste. While a variety of technologies can be used for the treatment of PW for reuse, biological-based technologies are an effective and sustainable remediation method. Specifically, microalgae, which are a cost-effective and sustainable process that use nutrients to eliminate organic pollutants from PW during the bioremediation process. In these treatment processes, microalgae grow in PW free of charge, eliminate pollutants, and generate clean water that can be recycled and reused. This helps to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere while simultaneously producing biofuels, other useful chemicals, and added-value products. As such, this review focuses on PW generation in the oil and gas industry, PW characteristics, and examines the available technologies that can be used for PW remediation, with specific attention to algal-based technologies. In addition, the various aspects of algae growth and cultivation in PW, the effect of growth conditions, water quality parameters, and the corresponding treatment performance are presented. Lastly, this review emphasizes the bioremediation of PW using algae and highlights how to harvest algae that can be processed to generate biofuels for added-value products as a sustainable approach.
Highlights
Produced water (PW) is comprised of an enormous amount of industrial wastewater (WW) generated from oil and gas extraction [1]
We provided a list of algae species known to flourish disposal of chemicals, complicated pre- and post-treatment in a wide range of salinities, which can be investigated for use in hypersaline PW treat(e.g., thermal methods, membranes, and adsorption), and low efficiency
After further processing is undertaken, algae technology can remediate the toxic effect of pollutants present in PW and utilize nutrient supplements and beneficial chemicals to make water available for additional uses
Summary
Produced water (PW) is comprised of an enormous amount of industrial wastewater (WW) generated from oil and gas extraction [1]. The constituents in the PW are toxic organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (known as BTEX), inorganic compounds such as heavy metals, total dissolved solids (TDS), chemical additives used during the oil production process, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other pollutants [4,5,6,7]. The presence of these components in PW increases its toxicity, creates significant environmental concerns, and reduces the possibility of treating and reusing the water
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