Abstract
Oil and gas production wells generate large volumes of water mixed with hydrocarbons (dispersed and dissolved), salts (ions), and solids. This ‘produced water’ (PW) is a waste stream that must be disposed of appropriately. The presence of toxic hydrocarbons and ions in PW makes it unsuitable for surface discharge or disposal in groundwater resources. Thus, PW is often injected into deep geological formations as a disposal method. However, the supply of global water sources is diminishing, and the demand for water in industrial, domestic, and agricultural use in water-stressed regions makes PW a potentially attractive resource. PW also contains valuable elements like lithium and rare earth elements, which are increasing in global demand. This review article provides an overview of constituents present in PW, current technologies available to remove and recover valuable elements, and a case study highlighting the costs and economic benefits of recovering these valuable elements. PW contains a promising source of valuable elements. Developing technologies, such as ceramic membranes with selective sorption chemistry could make elemental recovery economically feasible and turn PW from a waste stream into a multi-faceted resource.
Highlights
The key role of the oil and natural gas industry in modern civilization is well known.Water is often injected into reservoirs to maintain well pressure and increase hydrocarbon recovery
The properties of produced water (PW) depend on various factors, including the location of the oil field, its geological formation, the lifetime of its reservoirs, the type of hydrocarbon product being produced, and the chemicals used in the extraction process [2,44]
The addition of alumina nanoparticles into a membrane made with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) increased the hydrophilicity compared to an unmodified membrane, which increased flux and provided a 98% oil rejection rate [70]
Summary
The key role of the oil and natural gas industry in modern civilization is well known. Formation water (present in the reservoir) and injected water are produced along with hydrocarbon mixtures from oil and gas wells. Disposal costs are an additional rationale for reuse by the oil and gas industry [17,18], as partial reuse of PW often provides economic benefits [19]. Various processing techniques can be used to treat and reuse PW. Various techniques can be employed to purify water to ensure it is suitable for disposal/reuse. The choice of techniques depends on various factors, including the amount of oil, organic content, suspended soil, and the elements present. The water obtained from these techniques can be reused for domestic supply, industry, irrigation, power generation, aquifer recharge, aquaculture, or drinking water [30,31]. The recovery of residual hydrocarbons and valuable inorganic components present in PW could help offset costs for PW treatment and reuse. (a) Assess the composition of the constituents present in PW. (b) Summarize current technologies available to recover valuable resources from PW. (c) Highlight the economic benefits of recovering valuable resources from PW
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
