Abstract
Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) has been conducted to treat hydraulic fracturing-produced water using polyvinylidenedifluoride (PVDF) membranes. Tailoring the surface properties of the membrane is critical in order to reduce the rate of adsorption of dissolved organic species as well as mineral salts. The PVDF membranes have been modified by grafting zwitterion and polyionic liquid-based polymer chains. In addition, surface oxidation of the PVDF membrane has been conducted using KMnO4 and NaOH. Surface modification conditions were chosen in order to minimize the decrease in contact angle. Thus, the membranes remain hydrophobic, essential for suppression of wetting. DCMD was conducted using the base PVDF membrane as well as modified membranes. In addition, DCMD was conducted on the base membrane using produced water (PW) that was pretreated by electrocoagulation to remove dissolved organic compounds. After DCMD all membranes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy imaging as well as Energy-Dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy. Surface modification led to a greater volume of PW being treated by the membrane prior to drastic flux decline. The results indicate that tailoring the surface properties of the membrane enhances fouling resistance and could reduce pretreatment requirements.
Highlights
Increasing oil and gas production is predicted by the International Energy Agency with a corresponding increase in the volume of co-produced water that requires suitable treatment before disposal [1]
Membrane fouling leads to flux decline and breakthrough of the feed into the permeate side
Polymer chains consisting of zwitterionic groups as well as polyionic liquids and surface oxidation by KMnO4 and NaOH were studied
Summary
Increasing oil and gas production is predicted by the International Energy Agency with a corresponding increase in the volume of co-produced water that requires suitable treatment before disposal [1]. We focus on gas production by hydraulic fracturing operations. Oil and gas production from shale formations using hydraulic fracturing techniques has grown rapidly in the. In order to extract oil and gas from these non-conventional reservoirs, water together with hydraulic fracturing fluids is injected at high pressure into the well in order to fracture the impervious rock formation that contains the trapped oil and gas. The PW is frequently highly impaired containing fracturing fluids as well as natural contaminants [4]. Today deep well injection is frequently used to dispose the PW in the US in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
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