Treating produced water - crude oil emulsion using concentric packed UV- bioelectrochemical cell (CPUBEC)

Abstract

This research paper comes in the context of the growing global scientific path to develop clean renewable energy production methods that are commensurate with the required environmental standards, reduce carbon emissions, and treat pollutants in the water produced with the production of crude oil from oil fields, which are large quantities and are constantly increasing with the growing global demand for oil and gas. A bioelectrochemical cell was manufactured from available capacitive materials (GQDs/TiO2) with biofilm spread in the parts that are not directly exposed to UV ray in an innovative installation consisting of a cylindrical shell with spherical packing anode and a cathode in the middle of membrane that separates the tow electrodes. Both electrodes are arranged in a Pyrex pot and connected to external resistance. The packed cell (with and without uv-ray) performance was compared with unpacked cell to determined the effect of the packing and UV ray by studying the efficiency of removing pollutants TPH and COD. the best results in the packed cell with UV ray as follows:97.1 %, 97 % respectively, while the best results obtained in the case of using an unpacked cell was 86.6 %, 84.8 %. the change in the pH during the operating cycle was also studied and it was found that the change in the packed cell was slightly greater than the change in the unpacked cell as a result of the complex interactive on the surface of the anode. The highest current density produced was 1316 mA/m2 on the fifth day in packed cell and presence of UV ray.