Design and Performance of Pilot-Scale Constructed Wetland Treatment Systems for Treating Oilfield Produced Water from Sub-Saharan Africa

Horner, Jennifer E.; Castle, James W.; Rodgers, John H.; Gulde, Cynthia Murray; Myers, James D.

doi:10.1007/s11270-011-0996-1

Cited by 29 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Synthetic produced waters were composed of minerals, oil, and sometimes production chemicals such as surfactants. In some cases, synthetic produced water was formulated to mimic produced water from a specific region, such as Middle East oilfields (Shpiner et al 2009a, b) or produced water from Africa where salinity is low and has total dissolved solids (TDS) of 704-1370 mg L −1 (Horner et al 2012). In one study, removal of the surfactant dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (DBSA), an oilfield production chemical, was observed in the produced water from an oilfield where polymer flooding was practiced (Zhang et al 2016).…”

Section: Literature Review Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Murray-Gulde et al (2003) simulated subsurface wetland treatment using a series of four 132 L barrels, with the barrels turned on the side and filled halfway. Horner et al (2012) tested three wetland systems: one series of four plastic containers (379 L each) mimicking free surface wetlands and two series of four containers mimicking subsurface wetlands. Shallow depth was observed to be important for contaminant removal by Shpiner et al (2009a), as was reactor baffling and recycle flows.…”

Section: Wetlands and Pond Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biological treatment of oil and gas produced water: a review and meta-analysis

Camarillo

Stringfellow

2018

Clean Techn Environ Policy

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Biological treatment is effective but infrequently used for oil and gas produced water. To date, physical-chemical treatment methods have been favored due to the smaller space requirements and operational simplicity. Changing regulatory requirements and increased interest in recycling and beneficial reuse have led to increased interest in biological treatment. To elucidate its potential role, we reviewed and summarized 59 studies on the biological treatment of produced water. Oilfield produced water was predominantly studied (> 50%). More studies using real produced water were from China than from any other country (37%). Real produced water was used in most studies (73%). Studies were predominantly bench-scale experiments (69%). Fixed-film reactors were most prevalent (27%). Water quality of produced waters treated was variable; median total dissolved solids (TDS) was 28,000 mg L −1 and median chemical oxygen demand (COD) was 1125 mg L −1. Inhibition by salinity was variable according to the treatment system and study design, but efficacy generally decreased when TDS was above 50,000 mg L −1. For studies treating real samples, average COD removal was 73% when TDS was less than 50,000 mg L −1 , and 54% when TDS was greater than 50,000 mg L −1. Key issues were microbial acclimation, toxicity, biological fouling, and mineral scaling. Finding an inoculum was not problematic as microorganisms capable of degrading hydrocarbons were isolated from various environments. Treatment performance was better where synthetic produced water was used in lieu of real samples. Biological treatment is promising for producing effluents suitable for reuse, particularly where it functions as part of a larger treatment train.

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Section: Literature Review Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wetlands and Pond Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological treatment of oil and gas produced water: a review and meta-analysis

Camarillo

Stringfellow

2018

Clean Techn Environ Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although the composition of oil field-produced waters varies greatly, common fractions generally include oil, various hydrocarbons, metals/metalloids, phenolics, and salts (Horner et al, 2012).…”

Section: Oil Field and Refinery Wastewatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Treatment of industrial effluents in constructed wetlands: Challenges, operational strategies and overall performance

Wallace

Brix

et al. 2015

Environmental Pollution

185

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“…Removal rate coefficients were calculated using the standard approach of first-order rate kinetics (Horner et al 2012;Johnson et al 2008b). The firstorder reaction follows:…”

Section: Vertical Tracer Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative Water Management Technology to Reduce Environmental Impacts of Produced Water

Castle

Rodgers

Alley

et al. 2013

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Clemson University with Chevron as an industry partner developed and applied treatment technology using constructed wetland systems to decrease targeted constituents in simulated and actual produced waters to achieve reuse criteria and discharge limits. Pilot-scale and demonstration constructed wetland treatment system (CWTS) experiments led to design strategies for treating a variety of constituents of concern (COCs) in produced waters including divalent metals, metalloids, oil and grease, and ammonia. Targeted biogeochemical pathways for treatment of COCs in pilot-scale CWTS experiments included divalent metal sulfide precipitation through dissimilatory sulfate reduction, metal precipitation through oxidation, reduction of selenite to insoluble elemental selenium, aerobic biodegradation of oil, nitrification of ammonia to nitrate, denitrification of nitrate to nitrogen gas, separation of oil using an oilwater separator, and sorption of ammonia to zeolite. Treatment performance results indicated that CWTSs can be designed and built to promote specific environmental and geochemical conditions in order for targeted biogeochemical pathways to operate. The demonstration system successfully achieved consistent removal extents even while inflow concentrations of COCs in the produced water differed by orders of magnitude. Design strategies used in the pilot-scale and demonstration CWTSs to promote specific conditions that can be applied to designing full-scale CWTSs include plant and soil selection, water-depth selection, addition of amendments, and hydraulic retention time (HRT). These strategies allow conditions within a CWTS to be modified to achieve ranges necessary for the preferred biogeochemical treatment pathways. In the case of renovating a produced water containing COCs that require different biogeochemical pathways for treatment, a CWTS can be designed with sequential cells that promote different conditions. For example, the pilot-scale CWTS for post-reverse osmosis produced water was designed to promote oxidizing conditions within the first wetland cell for nitrification of ammonia, and the subsequent three cells were designed to promote reducing conditions for denitrification of nitrate. By incorporating multiple wetland cells in a CWTS, the conditions within each cell can be modified for removal of specific COCs. In addition, a CWTS designed with multiple cells allows for convenient sample collection points so that biogeochemical conditions of individual cells can be monitored and performance evaluated. Removal rate coefficients determined from the pilot-scale CWTS experiments and confirmed by the demonstration system can be used to calculate HRTs required to treat COCs in full-scale CWTSs. The calculated HRTs can then be used to determine the surface area or "footprint" of a full-size CWTS for a given inflow rate of produced water.

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Design and Performance of Pilot-Scale Constructed Wetland Treatment Systems for Treating Oilfield Produced Water from Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 29 publications

References 35 publications

Biological treatment of oil and gas produced water: a review and meta-analysis

Biological treatment of oil and gas produced water: a review and meta-analysis

Treatment of industrial effluents in constructed wetlands: Challenges, operational strategies and overall performance

Innovative Water Management Technology to Reduce Environmental Impacts of Produced Water

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