Oilfield Produced Water Treatment by Ceramic Membranes: Mass Transfer and Process Efficiency Analysis of Model Solutions

Abstract

This work evaluated the performance of ceramic membranes in removing dispersed oil present in oilfield produced water, seeking to advance knowledge of the process, and identify the conditions for its application. The effect of the operating conditions and effluent characteristics were evaluated across a wide range, enabling establishment of operational limits for the permeation process. It was demonstrated that a flow regime corresponding to a Reynolds number (Re) greater than 6,000 does not imply significant improvements in membrane permeability. It was further found that the permeate flux exhibits a slight linear dependence with the salt concentration (C_S).

Keywords:

• mass transfer
• produced water
• treatment
• ceramic membranes
• process efficiency

ORCID

S. E. Weschenfelder

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9910-615X

C. P. Borges

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9598-7877

J. C. Campos

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3988-5649