Photocatalytic degradation of naphthalene in offshore produced water: comparison of immobilized and suspended TiO2

Authors

  • Bo Liu Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Bing Chen Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Kenneth Lee and Atmosphere Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
  • Baiyu Zhang Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Yinchen Ma Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Liang Jing Memorial University of Newfoundland

Abstract

Offshore oil and gas industry has produced and discharged a considerable amount of produced on a daily basis. However, current treatment methods such as gravity separation are not effective in removing dissolved organic matters before discharge. As the increasing environmental awareness and stringent regulation, it is necessary to develop more effective approaches to remove dissolved organics. Photocatalysis has been introduced in water and wastewater treatment and can effectively remove organic pollutants non-selectively. However, the separation of catalysts after treatment is difficult and costly. Thus, the immobilization of catalyst could be an alter approach that avoids any post-treatment. In this study, produced water was irradiated under UV-C (254 nm) for 12 h with the presence of catalysts. A commercial catalyst, Aeroxide® P25 was immobilized on glass plates by a heat attachment method. The P25 powder was used as a referent catalyst. Naphthalene was selected as an indicator owing to its abundance in produced water and typical chemical property of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The results showed that the immobilized catalyst has a better enhancement to photo-oxidation. The turbidity was significantly reduced compared with suspended system.

Downloads

Published

2014-11-16

Issue

Proceedings of the International Conference on Marine and Freshwater Environments (iMFE 2014) - Our Water, Our Future

Section

Water and Wastewater Treatment (WWT)

License

Authors who publish with this conference agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the conference right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this conference. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the conference's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this conference. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).