Abstract
A commercial titania ceramic nanofiltration membrane unit with a permeate flow capacity of 20 m3/h was used to reduce ion concentration, Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in recycle water from a Canadian oil sands mine. This unit, the first of its kind, was tested for almost two years to evaluate membrane performance under actual recycle process water conditions. This paper focuses on the results at a 50% stage cut. A strong correlation between specific flux and rejection was found, with the highest mass rejections observed at the lowest specific flux values. A potential formation of a cake layer on the membrane surface seems to favour the rejection since lower specific flux values improved mass rejection. The analysis of more than 20 ions showed that differences in hydrated ionic sizes and electrostatic phenomena are at play with divalent cations showing the largest rejection. Additional 75–90% TOC and almost 100% TSS rejection was observed. These results indicate that it is possible to implement this technology in an oil sands mine and obtain significant water quality improvements and reducing river water intake.
Highlights
Mineable oil sands constitute an important source of crude oil to the worldwide market, with production accounting for approximately 1.5 million barrels per day, almost entirely coming from Canadian oil sands deposits [1]
Absorbed organic matter may change the isoelectric point (IEP) of the membrane surface, it is considered that the number of ions present in the recycle process water might be larger than the organic matter, which means that the ions might have a stronger electrical charge effect over the membrane
While the titania nanofiltration unit (TNU) was operating at a 50% stage cut for approximately 75 days, the system was fed with an average recycle process water flow of 7.0 m3/h and a maximum of 9.5 m3/h
Summary
Mineable oil sands constitute an important source of crude oil to the worldwide market, with production accounting for approximately 1.5 million barrels per day, almost entirely coming from Canadian oil sands deposits [1]. Loganathan et al [16] used a pilot-scale membrane system in an oil sands mine to study the effects of different pre-treatment technologies on the perfor mance of ceramic ultrafiltration membranes during the treatment of oil sands recycle process water This system consisted of two treatment trains operated in parallel. Results show that coagulant addition was necessary for almost complete solids removal and membrane fouling could be reduced by the addition of a softening step as pre-treatment Overall, these studies show that nanofiltration technology could be applied in the water treatment of oil sands with significant reduction (up to 95%) in organic components and electrolytes. The water produced from these ceramic membranes could be fed directly to boilers if this water has the required quality characteristics to produce steam Another potential application in the Oil Sands Extraction Process is the treatment of warm water coming from thickener overflow. This appli cation is the first attempt at understanding the performance of ceramic nanofiltration membranes under actual operation conditions in a 24/7 production operation
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