Evaluation of a hydrocyclone system and ceramic membrane for oily water treatment purposes

Kepler Borges França,Adriana Barbosa Da Costa Pereira,Karine Oliveira Da Costa,Carolina Pereira Dantas,Cristiane Rodrigues Macêdo

doi:10.33448/rsd-v10i16.23331

Kepler Borges França, Adriana Barbosa Da Costa Pereira + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v10i16.23331

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Abstract

The management of produced water is a huge challenge for oil companies, as environmental agencies use increasingly strict laws and require a primary treatment for the disposal of waste. The conventional methods used in the treatment of oily water, cannot satisfactorily remove the environmental laws. A system is presented, with a hydrocyclone built within LABDES/UFCG, tested and characterized with oily waters with different levels of oil concentrations, in order to study its efficiency. It was observed that for different oil concentrations in the hydrocyclone feed stream of (100 to 2000) mg L-1, total oil and grease, reached an efficiency above 85%. The set of ceramic membranes, MR01-10 and MR02-20, with porosities of 43% and 52%, were used in the assembly of two types of systems, SMC-DE and SMC-FC. SMC-FC showed a removal rate above 80% for an average production of 165 L h-1 m-2. However, SMC-DE proved to be more efficient in relation to TOG, above 98%, but less efficient in relation to the permeate production flow, 63.3 L h-1.m-2. The hydrocyclone system with cross-flow ceramic membrane (SH-MC/FC) was chosen to study the reduction of oil in oily water, for a concentration range of (200 to 2000) mg L-1, which presented a removal rate above 95%.

Highlights

In the oil production process, water is considered one of the most undesirable contaminants, which is produced in large volumes and its presence causes a series of problems in the production stages
The study presented a hydrocyclone system to obtain parameters required by regulatory agencies in water treatment
The hydrocyclone built within the scope of LABDES/UFCG, adapted from Souza (2009), obtained an efficiency above 85% regardless of the oil concentration in the system supply solution, for concentrations permissible by CONAMA (2008) it was necessary to implementation of a second treatment, with a ceramic membrane

Summary

Introduction

In the oil production process, water is considered one of the most undesirable contaminants, which is produced in large volumes and its presence causes a series of problems in the production stages. Emulsions are formed during the passage of oil and water from the reservoir to the surface and have greater or lesser stability, mainly as a function of the flow regime and the presence of emulsifying agents that prevent the coalescence of water droplets. It is necessary, to treat this water in order to recover part of the emulsified oil and condition it for reinjection or for disposal (Thomas et al, 2001). Revista Ciencia Hoje (2003) highlighted the difficulty of separating water associated with oil, especially the formed emulsions. There are risks caused by corrosion and obstruction of the reservoir pores that this mixture causes, which can account for up to 70% of an oil company's expenses (Sousa Filho, 2002)

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