No 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.

The paper provides background on how bilge water has changed over the years and how technology has enabled manufacturers to stay ahead of the curve by borrowing technological breakthroughs from other areas to the measurement of oil content in the marine environment. Light scattering provides today a universal and reliable method, able to measure the wide range of oils present in a wildly variable and unpredictable bilge water mixture. Bilge water regulations were put in place to reduce the potential of harm to the environment from oily bilge water discharges. Regulations require that instruments verify effluent quality continually during the discharge process, which precludes the adoption for shipboard use of standard laboratory style testing with the associated time delays to complete the analysis. Measuring oil content with the light scattering measuring instrument is a tried and tested means for compliant bilge water verification. State of the art instruments employ sophisticated light measuring systems and they use complex algorithms to convert the scattered light pattern values into oil content reading, thereby considering interference from other than oil suspended matter, they prevent harm to the environment from bilge water discharges. Paper published with permission.

Die Abtrennung von Wasser aus Dieselkraftstoff ist aus sicherheitstechnischen, ökologischen sowie ökonomischen Gründen sehr wichtig, da es andernfalls u. a. zu einer schlechteren Verbrennungseffizienz und Motorproblemen kommen kann. Zudem lässt sich aus Ultra‐low‐sulfur‐Diesel (ULSD) das freie Wasser mit den klassischen Abscheidesystemen nur unzureichend abtrennen. Zur Lösung dieses Problems wurde ein Membranverfahren mit unterschiedlichen organischen/anorganischen Membranen für die selektive Abtrennung von Wassertropfen aus ULSD sowie ein innovativer Wasser‐in‐Öl‐Online‐Sensor entwickelt.