Oilfield produced water treatment by ceramic membranes: Bench and pilot scale evaluation

Oilfield produced water contains a significant amount of suspended solids and oil and grease that need to be almost completely removed prior to reinjection or when subsequent desalination processes are applied. For the separation of both contaminants from oilfield produced water, membrane technology has been described as a potential solution. Therefore, for this study, zirconia oxide ceramic membranes in bench and pilot scale units were used to evaluate the permeate flux behavior in long-term tests. The effect of backpulsing and backwashing procedures on the process performance was also investigated. A 36% boost of the permeate effective flux was achieved when both techniques were applied simultaneously. Based on those results and from literature information, a cost estimation for a full scale plant was obtained. Different cleaning procedures intervals were simulated and related to the process cost. The operational cost and capital expenditure for a plant capable of generating 1000 m3 h−1 of permeate were found to be equal to US$ 0.27/m3 and MUS$ 7.11, respectively, when the membrane renegeration interval was considered to be equal to 100 h.