Performance of advanced oxidation processes to treat the petroleum wastewater A review

Abstract

The objective of this study is to summarize studies and investigations about advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) used for the treatment of petroleum wastewater, which mainly contained oil, organic matter and other compounds. The big difference was shown in the specification of wastewater among the investigated studies and a wide variety of pollutants at varying concentrations. The most compounds in petroleum wastewater were the mixture of hydrocarbons and inorganic compounds. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have a capability of rapid degradation of recalcitrant pollutants in the aquatic environment. However, the literature regarding petroleum wastewater treatment is very little and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are still not being used on an industrial scale in oil refineries. Most studies were focused on the degradation of some pollutants found in the petroleum wastewater such as sulphides, ammonia, phenols and organic materials. This review focused on works that investigated advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) by monitoring general petroleum wastewater parameters such as TOC, COD, BOD, oil, and phenols. It presented an overview of photocatalytic degradation of pollutants in petroleum wastewater and highlighted the basics of these processes including the optimum parameters.