DEGRADATION OF TOTAL HYDROCARBON CONTENT OF OILFIELD PRODUCED WATER USING ACTIVATED COW BONE CARBON

Abstract

The adsorption capacity of activated cow bone carbon as adsorbent for the uptake of total hydrocarbon from oilfield produced water was investigated in this work. The physico-chemical properties of the produced water were determined and the activated carbon was characterized in terms of pH and surface characteristics. The effects of adsorption process variables on the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon were evaluated and optimized using response surface methodology. The adsorption process variables considered and their range of values are adsorbent dosage of 2.0 to 5.0 g, contact time of 30 to 60 mins and temperature of 35 to 60℃. The physico-chemical properties of the produced water before treatment revealed that the produced water was contaminated with high concentration of hydrocarbons and other contaminants. Elemental composition showed that the activated carbon contained predominantly CaO (52.61%) and P2O5 (43.05%). The BET surface area, pore volume and pore size of the activated carbon were found to be 321.79 m2.g-1, 0.1624 cm3.g-1 and 2.10 nm respectively which indicate activated carbon has a mesoporous structure. The maximum amount of total hydrocarbon content adsorbed was found to be 607.27 mg.g-1 which was achieved using activated carbon dosage of 2.00 g, contact time of 40.56 mins at a temperature of 35℃. The high and close R-squared values of the experimental and predicted values of the total hydrocarbon content indicate reasonable agreement and hence showed the effectiveness of response surface methodology in modeling the removal of total hydrocarbon content in produced water. The high amount of total hydrocarbon content adsorbed showed that activated cow bone carbon is effective and efficient as a low cost adsorbent alternative for the degradation of hydrocarbon in waste water streams.