Abstract
The oil and gas industry generates a large volume of contaminated water (produced water) which must be processed to recover oil before discharge. Here, we evaluated the performance and fouling behavior of commercial ceramic silicon carbide membranes in the treatment of oily wastewaters. In this context, microfiltration and ultrafiltration ceramic membranes were used for the separation of oil during the treatment of tank dewatering produced water and oily model solutions, respectively. We also tested a new online oil-in-water sensor (OMD-32) based on the principle of light scattering for the continuous measurement of oil concentrations in order to optimize the main filtration process parameters that determine membrane performance: the transmembrane pressure and cross-flow velocity. Using the OMD-32 sensor, the oil content of the feed, concentrate and permeate streams was measured continuously and fell within the range 0.0–200 parts per million (ppm) with a resolution of 1.0 ppm. The ceramic membranes achieved an oil-recovery efficiency of up to 98% with less than 1.0 ppm residual oil in the permeate stream, meeting environmental regulations for discharge in most areas.
Highlights
To characterize a novel online oil-in-water sensor based on light scattering for (i) the continuous measurement of oil content during the filtration of oily wastewater samples and (ii) the evaluation of process parameters that affect membrane performance, the crossflow velocity (CFV) and transmembrane pressure (TMP)
tank-dewatering produced water (TDPW) and oily model solutions (OMSs) prepared by diluting stock solutions of a defined droplet size with demineralized water (Figure 4b)
The TMP and Crossflow Velocity (CFV) were varied and the process performance was investigated in terms of permeate flux and permeate quality
Summary
Produced water (PW) is a term used in the oil and gas industry to describe the aqueous liquid phase produced from wells during the extraction of oil and gas [1]. PW is the largest source of contaminated water discharged from oil and gas production operations [2] and on a global scale the production rate is 25–39.5 Mm3 day−1. The composition and physiochemical properties of PW are complex and vary considerably from well to well (Table 1) [3]. The most toxic constituents include oil, salt, sand, heavy metals, bacteria, naturally occurring radioactive materials, and production chemicals. The environmental impact of PW differs according to how it is treated and where it is discharged
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