New Method to Purify ‘Produced’ Water

26 Mar 2019

New Method to Purify ‘Produced’ Water

Scientists of Purdue University in the U.S have developed a new method to purify water used in oil refineries.

Each day about 2.5 billion gallons of produced water is generated in the U.S. (1 gallon is 3.78 litres).
 	Produced water is a byproduct from the oil refinery and extraction process.
 	This water contains contaminants and is unusable for any household or commercial use.  So, oil refineries have been finding it to be a tough challenge to dispose off such water.
 	Currently, available water treatments processes are both expensive and do not remove all traces of contaminants from the water.

The new process:

The new process can remove nearly all traces of oil in produced water.
 	The process uses activated charcoal foam and subjects it to solar light. (“activated” charcoal has more pores than normal charcoal and so can absorb better.)
 	The solar light produces heat, the heated foam then absorbs the oil contaminants from the water.
 	Not only does this clean the water, but the oil absorbed by the foam can also be recovered for use. Up to 95 per cent of the absorbed oil was recoverable by this method.

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Scientists of Purdue University in the U.S have developed a new method to purify water used in oil refineries. Each day about 2.5 […]

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