BTEX Removal from Produced Water Using Surfactant-Modified Zeolite
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 3
Abstract
Produced water (water generated during recovery of petroleum) contains large amounts of various hazardous organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX). With increasing regulations governing disposal of this water, low-cost treatment options are necessary. This study evaluated the effectiveness of surfactant-modified zeolite (SMZ) for removal of BTEX from produced water. The long-term effectiveness of SMZ for BTEX removal was investigated along with changes in sorption properties with long-term use. The results of these investigations show that SMZ completely removes BTEX from produced water up to a compound-specific capacity, and that SMZ can be regenerated via air sparging without loss of sorption capacity. The BTEX mobility in laboratory columns of SMZ was in the order of decreasing water solubility and increasing . The most soluble compound, benzene, began to elute at 8 pore volumes (PV), while the least soluble compounds, ethylbenzene and xylenes, began to elute at 50 PV. After treating 4,500 PVs of water in the column system over 10 sorption/regeneration cycles, no significant reduction in sorption capacity of the SMZ for BTEX was observed. The mean determined in these column experiments ranged from for benzene to for - and -xylene. Laboratory columns were upscaled to create a field-scale SMZ treatment system. The field-scale system was tested at a natural gas produced-water treatment facility near Wamsutter, Wyo. We observed even greater sorption of BTEX in the field column than predicted from the laboratory results. In the field column, initial benzene breakthrough occurred at 10 PV and toluene breakthrough began at 15 PV, and no breakthrough of ethylbenzene or xylenes occurred throughout the 80 PV experiment. The field and laboratory results, along with the low price of SMZ (about ), suggest that SMZ has a potential role in a cost-effective produced water treatment system.
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Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (Grant No. DE-AC26-99BC15221). The writers thank Mr. John Boysen of B.C. Technologies (Laramie, Wy.) for the use of their facilities. Guifang Tan of the University of Texas-Austin prepared the SMZ, performed the gas chromatography analyses of the field-test samples, and provided assistance with the field test. Sarah Loughney of New Mexico Tech assisted with laboratory column experiments. Jim Smith of Los Alamos National Laboratory assisted with SEM analysis. Alana Fuierer of New Mexico Tech aided with the setup of the laboratory column system.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 3 • March 2005
Pages: 434 - 442
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 10, 2003
Accepted: Jun 22, 2004
Published online: Mar 1, 2005
Published in print: Mar 2005
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