(469b) A Study of a Multi-Step Membrane-Based Desalination Process for Resource Recovery

The exploration and production of oil and gas generate a variety of waste materials that have to be managed effectively. The most common waste product from the oil and gas industry is the produced water that is typically extracted from hydrocarbon-bearing strata during the oil and gas extraction process. This waste stream includes any chemicals that might be added to the well or added during drilling, production, or maintenance, as well as formation water and injection water. In this waste stream, we find a significant amount of solids in the form of dissolved solids, dispersed oil and grease, salts, organic compounds, heavy metals, rare earth elements, and radionuclides. Often, produced waters are managed on-site or within an oil field using evaporation ponds and seepage pits. There is also the possibility of recycling and reusing the produced waters for exploration and production operations within the oil and gas industry. Many companies, service providers, and water treatment companies offer produced water management options to their customers. According to their analysis, the costs associated with the treatment of produced water, including desalination, are much higher than the cost associated with reusing the produced water in the oil and gas field or injecting it into disposal wells. In this research project, we are targeting to develop a desalination method for reusing and recycling produced water at a reduced price by using reverse osmosis. With our reverse osmosis system with polymer membranes, we are able to achieve the highest levels of efficiency. Based on the preliminary results of our experiments, we can conclude that this multi-step membrane process reduces salinity by more than 99% and lowers the concentration of organic and inorganic compounds in produced water by more than 95%. The research also seeks to recover valuable elements from produced water like lithium and boron to transform waste into valuable materials.