Oil field produced water recovery and boosting the quality for using in membrane less fuel cell

Abstract

With recent surge of strict regulations to treat the produced water, many companies start preparing efficient treatment methods to create the end permeate that can be disposed. This produced water is produced in massive amount during the crude oil and gas production either onshore or offshore. Furthermore, this wastewater has distinctive characteristics as it has many different contaminants packed inside which are mostly due to variation of organic and inorganic compounds. However, this water with proper treatment can preserve microbes which are very prominent in it. The key is to maintain the feed for the microbes and remove unnecessary contaminants that hinder microbes activities which creates conducive environment. Thus, the methods for this study was chosen to remove the dissolved oil droplets using coagulation/ flocculation, microfiltration membrane and forward osmosis. These methods will be able to remove grease and oil while maintaining the chemical oxygen demand and other organic compounds that act as the feed for the microbes that are already in the produced water. At the end of the experiment, the conductive environment for the microbes achieved. This enables the end permeate to be further treated with microbial fuel cell that not only treat the organic compounds in the water, it can also produce electricity that can be commercialized.

Carbon Nanotube/Pt Cathode Nanocomposite Electrode in Microbial Fuel Cells for Wastewater Treatment and Bioenergy Production

“…For inoculation of MFC at the anode chamber, anaerobic sludge from a palm oil mill effluent treatment plant (Selangor, Malaysia) was utilized. The media comprised of 5 g glucose as the source of sugar, 0.5 g yeast extract, 4 g NaHCO 3 , 0.2 g KCl, and 10 mL Wolfe's mineral and vitamin solution added per liter [30]. All the chemicals were provided by Merck Company (Darmstadt, Germany).…”

Investigating new techniques for the treatment of oil field produced water and energy production

“…The sample for microfiltration was conducted using a cellulose membrane with pore size of 0.45 µm. The coagulation and flocculation was conducted with sulphuric acid for the acidification stage and alum as the coagulant [27]. The samples prepared were labelled as follows: The anode and cathode were connected through a 1000 Ω resistor as a load to the system [25,14] (Fig.…”

Hydrodynamic and Performance Evaluation of a Porous Ceramic Membrane Module Used on the Water–Oil Separation Process: An Investigation by CFD

“…Currently, there are different technologies and methods for treating water polluted with oil, which takes into account the physical, physical–chemical, chemical, and biological principles that occur in the processes [ 4 , 6 ]. Among these methods are flotation [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], coagulation [ 6 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], the use of hydrocyclones [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], biological treatment [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] and membrane separation technologies [ 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”

“…In general, the higher the crude oil content in the water, the lower the removal efficiency; therefore, it is necessary to use a combination of different methods that can enhance the processes of water purification [ 10 ]. Khan et al [ 12 ], for example, combined coagulation and flocculation to remove large particles of oil and inorganic matter from the produced water and, as a result, obtained a favorable environment for the biodegradation microorganisms, and finally, using microfiltration membrane removed the remaining dissolved oil microdroplets.…”