Performance evaluation of integral process for treatment of oilfield wastewater

• Main Authors: Khader, Eman H., Abbood, Noor S., Albyati, Talib N., Mohammed, Thamer J.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coagulants; Coagulation; Efficiency; Hydrogen peroxide; Oil field equipment; Oil fields; Parameters; Performance evaluation; Photocatalysis; Reinjection; Titanium dioxide; Wastewater treatment
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0091914

In this work, the performance of integral coagulation-photocatalytic process was evaluated, and compared to the individual processes (coagulation and photocatalytic) for the oil removal (175 mg/L) from oilfield wastewater. As a natural coagulant, peels of sunflower seeds was applied and the impact of the important parameters like coagulant dose (from 0.5 to 6 g/L), pH (from 2 to 12), and temperature (from 20 to 60 °C) were studied in coagulation experiments. Additionally the impact of different parameters like the concentration of H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) from 50 to 250 mg/L, the TiO2 dose from 20 to 150 mg/L, pH from 2 to 12, temperature from 20 to 60 °C, and irradiation time from 10 to 120 min were tested in the photocatalytic process (UV/TiO2/ H2O2). The results revealed that, the highest oil removal efficiency was 46.86 % at the optimal conditions of the coagulation process, whereas, the highest oil removal efficiency was 97.71 % at the optimal conditions of photocatalytic process. However, the best removal were obtained with an integral coagulation-photocatalytic process where the removal efficiency of oil reached 99.99% and achieved the allowed requirement range of discharge OPW (oil < 5 mg/L) to reinjection in a reservoir of oil. Furthermore, the integral treatment process was the most effective process under natural conditions and showed a higher reduction of oil (0.01 mg/L) at a short radiation time. The suggested process was found useful and can be considered economical for oilfield wastewater treatment.