Implementing and optimizing the operation of membrane bioreactors for petroleum wastewater treatment

In the recent Kazakhstan Upstream Oil and Gas Technology and R&D Roadmap, water management has been recognized one of the fifteen main challenges that must be dealt with. This roadmap mentions that chemical processes are increasingly used for wastewater treatment; however it is recognized that "the preferred, longer term solution is likely to be membrane technology, which present a local R&D opportunity since further development is needed. This could lead to local opportunities for design, installation and maintenance of membrane separation equipment"[1]. In line with the above requirements the proposed project develops and optimizes a membrane based treatment scheme for the treating & recycling of the water within the industry. Another objective is to investigate several biological processes within the membrane bioreactor (MBR) including nitrification/denitrification and biological removal of cyanides

Implementing and optimizing the operation of membrane bioreactors for petroleum wastewater treatment

In the recent Kazakhstan Upstream Oil and Gas Technology and R&D Roadmap, water management has been recognized one of the fifteen main challenges that must be dealt with. This roadmap mentions that chemical processes are increasingly used for wastewater treatment; however it is recognized that "the preferred, longer term solution is likely to be membrane technology, which present a local R&D opportunity since further development is needed. This could lead to local opportunities for design, installation and maintenance of membrane separation equipment"[1]. In line with the above requirements the proposed project develops and optimizes a membrane based treatment scheme for the treating & recycling of the water within the industry. Another objective is to investigate several biological processes within the membrane bioreactor (MBR) including nitrification/denitrification and biological removal of cyanides

Electrification at water–hydrophobe interfaces

Electrification of water upon contact with hydrophobic surfaces is a ubiquitous but poorly understood phenomenon. Here, the authors pinpoint the factors responsible for the excess positive charge carried by water droplets dispensed from hydrophobic capillaries, thereby answering some outstanding questions and raising new ones

Investigating the inhibitory effect of cyanide, phenol and 4-nitrophenol on the activated sludge process employed for the treatment of petroleum wastewater

Abstract In this work, the inhibitory effect of cyanide, phenol and 4-nitrophenol on the activated sludge process was investigated. The inhibition of the aerobic oxidation of organic matter, nitrification and denitrification were examined in batch reactors by measuring the specific oxygen uptake rate (sOUR), the specific ammonium uptake rate (sAUR) and the specific nitrogen uptake rate (sNUR) respectively. The tested cyanide, phenol and 4-nitrophenol concentrations were 0.2–1.7 mg/L, 4.8–73.1 mg/L and 8.2–73.0 mg/L respectively. Cyanide was highly toxic as it significantly (>50%) inhibited the activity of autotrophic biomass, heterotrophic biomass under aerobic conditions and denitrifiers even at relatively low concentrations (1.0–1.7 mgCN−/L). The determination of the half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) confirmed this, since for cyanide IC50 values were very low for the examined bioprocesses (<1.5 mg/L). On the other hand, the IC50 values for phenol and 4-nitrophenol were much higher (>25 mg/L) for the tested bioprocesses since appreciable concentrations were required to accomplish significant inhibition. The autotrophic bacteria were more sensitive to phenol than the aerobic heterotrophs. The denitrifiers were found to be very resistant to phenol