Reverse osmosis technology for water treatment: State of the art review

Demulsification techniques of water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions in petroleum industry

Stimuli-responsive membranes

Membrane-based separation for oily wastewater: A practical perspective.

While the world faces an increased scarcity in fresh water supply, it is of great importance that water from industry and waste streams can be treated for re-use. One of the largest waste streams in the oil and gas industry is produced water. After the phase separation of oil and gas, the produced water is left. This mixture contains dissolved and dispersed hydrocarbons, surfactants, clay particles and salts. Before this water can be used for re-injection, irrigation or as industrial water, it has to be treated. Conventional filtration techniques such as multi media filters and cartridge filters, are able to remove the majority of the contaminants, but the smallest, stabilized oil droplets (<10 μm) remain present in the treated water. In recent years, research has focused on membranes to remove these small oil droplets, because this technology requires no frequent replacement of filters and the water quality after treatment is better. Membranes however suffer from fouling by the contaminants in produced water, leading to a lower clean water flux and increased energy costs. Current research on produced water treatment by membranes is mainly focused on improving existing processes and developing fouling-resistant membranes. Multiple investigations have determined the importance of different factors (such as emulsion properties and operating conditions) on the fouling process, but understanding the background of fouling is largely absent. In this review, we describe the interaction between the membrane and a produced water emulsion from a colloidal perspective, with the aim to create a clear framework that can lead to much more detailed understanding of membrane fouling in produced water treatment. Better understanding of the complex interactions at the produced water/membrane interface is essential to achieve more efficient applications.

Produced water treatment by membranes: A review from a colloidal perspective.

Removal of microplastics from secondary wastewater treatment plant effluent by coagulation/flocculation with iron, aluminum and polyamine-based chemicals

Simultaneous removal of aniline and nickel from water by micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration with different molecular weight cut-off membranes

The influence of different factors on the stability and ultrafiltration of emulsified oil in water

Effective factors in the treatment of kerosene-water emulsion by using UF membranes.

Crude oil desalter effluent treatment by a hybrid UF/RO membrane separation process

Mehrdad Hesampour

Papers

Removal of microplastics from secondary wastewater treatment plant effluent by coagulation/flocculation with iron, aluminum and polyamine-based chemicals

Simultaneous removal of aniline and nickel from water by micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration with different molecular weight cut-off membranes

The influence of different factors on the stability and ultrafiltration of emulsified oil in water

Effective factors in the treatment of kerosene-water emulsion by using UF membranes.

Crude oil desalter effluent treatment by a hybrid UF/RO membrane separation process