(373g) Treatment of Produced Water Using Sand Filtration and Ultrafiltration Using Modified ?-Alumina Membranes

This study focuses on the step by step purification of produced water for obtaining clean water. The purification was achieved using a two-step purification process involving sand filtration and membrane ultrafiltration. Sand filtration was conducted to increase the longevity of the α-alumina membranes in order to separate impurities that would clog up membrane pores. Characterization was conducted of the produced water sample before and after the sand filtration step in order to understand the changes in the produced water composition. α-alumina membranes were used for the purpose of membrane ultrafiltration. Pristine α-alumina membrane although hydrophilic in nature may not be able to efficiently separate oily wastewater. In order to enhance oil-water separation, a hydrophilic modification was conducted on the α-alumina membranes the modification of α-alumina ultrafiltration (UF) membranes by surface functionalization using hydrophilic fumed silica particles. Hydrophilic modification of the membrane was conducted to enhance the fouling resistance and oil-water separation. The alumina membranes were treated with silica-nanoparticle solutions of varied silica loading from 0.025% to 3 wt.%. The impacts of various weight percentages of silica nanoparticles on the surface properties, membrane morphology, membrane flux and separation performance of the membranes were investigated. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), OCA (Oil contact Angle), and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) analyses were applied to characterize the pristine α-alumina and modified membranes. SEM, EDX and AFM served to characterize the membrane surface while OCA helped in understanding the wettability of the membranes.