Membrane Bioreactor Pretreatment of High-Salinity O&G Produced Water

Van Houghton, Brett D.; Acharya, Shwetha M.; Rosenblum, James S.; Chakraborty, Romy; Tringe, Susannah Green; Cath, Tzahi Y.

doi:10.1021/acsestwater.1c00436

Title: Membrane Bioreactor Pretreatment of High-Salinity O&G Produced Water

Journal Article · 18 February 2022 · ACS ES&T Water

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.1c00436 · OSTI ID:1863223

Van Houghton, Brett D. ^[1]; Acharya, Shwetha M. ^[2]; Rosenblum, James S. ^[1]; Chakraborty, Romy ^[2]; Tringe, Susannah Green ^[2];

^[1]

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Produced water (PW) from oil and gas production contains variable constituents that are difficult to remove with conventional treatment processes. The focus of this study was to explore the long-term performance of a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for the removal of organic constituents from PW and how performance and microbial community composition are affected by progressively increasing salinity and introduction of PW from different shale basins around the United States. Dissolved organic carbon removal from the PW remained consistent throughout the study, averaging 86% from the Denver-Julesburg basin PW and 66% removal from the Permian basin PW. Surfactant removal was less consistent, showing 87% removal of poly(ethylene glycols) (PEGs) at a total dissolved solid (TDS) concentration of 40 g/L but only 58% removal at a TDS concentration of 100 g/L. Diversity in the microbial community decreased during reactor establishment but increased at TDS concentrations above 80 g/L. Finally, the results of this study suggest that MBRs can be effective PW pretreatment processes even at high salinities.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Biological Systems Science Division

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1863223

Journal Information:: ACS ES&T Water, Journal Name: ACS ES&T Water Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 2; ISSN 2690-0637

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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