Ceramic Ultra- and Nanofiltration Membranes for Oilfield Produced Water Treatment: A Mini Review

ABSTRACT

Produced water is any fossil water that is brought to the surface along with crude oil or natural gas. By far, produced water is the largest by-product or waste stream by volume associated with oil and gas production. The volume of produced water is dependent upon the state of maturation of the field. There is a need for new technologies for produced water treatment due to increased focus on water conservation and environmental regulation. Each time regulatory agencies initiate more stringent environmental control treatment technologies are refined to meet the updated standards. The European standard for effluent from onshore petroleum activities requires less than 5 mg/l total hydrocarbons (HC) and less than 10 mg/l suspended solids; such low concentrations are unattainable when classical separation processes are used. To overcome the challenges posed by more stringent regulations, operators have turned to membrane filtration schemes which have the potential to minimize additional costs and disposal issues. Ceramic ultra- and nanofiltration membranes represent a relatively new class of materials available for the treatment of produced water. They can be manufactured from a variety of starting materials and can be processed in different ways to yield products with broad ranges of physicalchemical advantages and applications. While these membranes are effective in the separation of oils, emulsions and silts, they are prone to fouling by waxes and asphaltenes. The issues needing to be addressed are the prevention of membrane fouling during operation and the provision of an expedient, cost-effective and non-hazardous means of cleaning fouled membranes. Currently, there are not enough existing studies related to the treatment of oilfield produced water using ceramic membranes.

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