Graphene Oxide Membranes for High Salinity, Produced Water Separation by Pervaporation
Oil and gas industries produce a huge amount of wastewater known as produced water which contains diverse contaminants including salts, dissolved organics, dispersed oils, and solids making separation and purification challenging. The chemical and thermal stability of graphene oxide (GO) membranes m...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Membranes |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/11/7/475 |
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| author | Khalfan Almarzooqi Mursal Ashrafi Theeran Kanthan Ali Elkamel Michael A. Pope |
| author_facet | Khalfan Almarzooqi Mursal Ashrafi Theeran Kanthan Ali Elkamel Michael A. Pope |
| author_sort | Khalfan Almarzooqi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Oil and gas industries produce a huge amount of wastewater known as produced water which contains diverse contaminants including salts, dissolved organics, dispersed oils, and solids making separation and purification challenging. The chemical and thermal stability of graphene oxide (GO) membranes make them promising for use in membrane pervaporation, which may provide a more economical route to purifying this water for disposal or re-use compared to other membrane-based separation techniques. In this study, we investigate the performance and stability of GO membranes cast onto polyethersulfone (PES) supports in the separation of simulated produced water containing high salinity brackish water (30 g/L NaCl) contaminated with phenol, cresol, naphthenic acid, and an oil-in-water emulsion. The GO/PES membranes achieve water flux as high as 47.8 L m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> for NaCl solutions for membranes operated at 60 °C, while being able to reject 99.9% of the salt and upwards of 56% of the soluble organic components. The flux for membranes tested in pure water, salt, and simulated produced water was found to decrease over 72 h of testing but only to 50–60% of the initial flux in the worst-case scenario. This drop was concurrent with an increase in contact angle and C/O ratio indicating that the GO may become partially reduced during the separation process. Additionally, a closer look at the membrane crosslinker (Zn<sup>2+</sup>) was investigated and found to hydrolyze over time to Zn(OH)<sub>2</sub> with much of it being washed away during the long-term pervaporation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:51:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cf0fab0a3ce14eaba4a8bd225b76fbbd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0375 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:51:20Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Membranes |
| spelling | doaj.art-cf0fab0a3ce14eaba4a8bd225b76fbbd2023-12-03T13:10:28ZengMDPI AGMembranes2077-03752021-06-0111747510.3390/membranes11070475Graphene Oxide Membranes for High Salinity, Produced Water Separation by PervaporationKhalfan Almarzooqi0Mursal Ashrafi1Theeran Kanthan2Ali Elkamel3Michael A. Pope4Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaOil and gas industries produce a huge amount of wastewater known as produced water which contains diverse contaminants including salts, dissolved organics, dispersed oils, and solids making separation and purification challenging. The chemical and thermal stability of graphene oxide (GO) membranes make them promising for use in membrane pervaporation, which may provide a more economical route to purifying this water for disposal or re-use compared to other membrane-based separation techniques. In this study, we investigate the performance and stability of GO membranes cast onto polyethersulfone (PES) supports in the separation of simulated produced water containing high salinity brackish water (30 g/L NaCl) contaminated with phenol, cresol, naphthenic acid, and an oil-in-water emulsion. The GO/PES membranes achieve water flux as high as 47.8 L m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> for NaCl solutions for membranes operated at 60 °C, while being able to reject 99.9% of the salt and upwards of 56% of the soluble organic components. The flux for membranes tested in pure water, salt, and simulated produced water was found to decrease over 72 h of testing but only to 50–60% of the initial flux in the worst-case scenario. This drop was concurrent with an increase in contact angle and C/O ratio indicating that the GO may become partially reduced during the separation process. Additionally, a closer look at the membrane crosslinker (Zn<sup>2+</sup>) was investigated and found to hydrolyze over time to Zn(OH)<sub>2</sub> with much of it being washed away during the long-term pervaporation.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/11/7/4752D materialsmembranesproduced wateroil/water separationpervaporationgraphene oxide |
| spellingShingle | Khalfan Almarzooqi Mursal Ashrafi Theeran Kanthan Ali Elkamel Michael A. Pope Graphene Oxide Membranes for High Salinity, Produced Water Separation by Pervaporation Membranes 2D materials membranes produced water oil/water separation pervaporation graphene oxide |
| title | Graphene Oxide Membranes for High Salinity, Produced Water Separation by Pervaporation |
| title_full | Graphene Oxide Membranes for High Salinity, Produced Water Separation by Pervaporation |
| title_fullStr | Graphene Oxide Membranes for High Salinity, Produced Water Separation by Pervaporation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Graphene Oxide Membranes for High Salinity, Produced Water Separation by Pervaporation |
| title_short | Graphene Oxide Membranes for High Salinity, Produced Water Separation by Pervaporation |
| title_sort | graphene oxide membranes for high salinity produced water separation by pervaporation |
| topic | 2D materials membranes produced water oil/water separation pervaporation graphene oxide |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/11/7/475 |
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