Feasibility investigation of oily wastewater treatment by combination of zinc and PAM in coagulation/flocculation

Poly-zinc silicate (PZSS) is a new type of coagulant with cationic polymer synthesized by polysilicic acid and zinc sulfate. It has been used in several sorts of wastewaters treatment, but not used in oily wastewater treatment. In this study, we investigated the coagulation/flocculation of oil and suspended solids in heavy oil wastewater (HOW) by PZSS and anion polyacrylamide (A-PAM). The properties of PZSS cooperated with A-PAM were compared with PAC and PFS in dosages, PAMs amount, settling time, pH value and flocs morphology. The results showed that PZSS was more efficient than PAC and PFS. Under the optimum experimental conditions of coagulation/flocculation (dosage: 100 mg/L, A-PAM dosage: 1.0 mg/L, settling time time: 40 min and pH 6.5-9.5), more than 99% of oil was removed and suspended solid value less than 5 mg/L by using PZSS cooperated with A-PAM, which could satisfy the demands of the pre-treatment process for HOW to be reused in the steam boiler or recycled into the injecting well.