Cost-Efficiency and Recyclability of Metal Foam/Micromesh for Arsenic and Mercury Removal in Oil & Gas Applications

Abstract

Abstract The presence of arsenic and mercury in condensates causes several problems, including condensate quality, environmental pollution, health, and equipment integrity. According to a conventional cellulose-based filtration technique, it has limited lifetime and nonreusable. A metal filter is an alternative and promising approach according to their reusable potential and physic- and chemi-sorption processes. Thus, this work aimed to study the feasibility of using metal filter to remove arsenic and mercury contaminants in condensate. The removal efficiency of arsenic and mercury was investigated using two different material types and two morphological structures: copper and stainless-steel micromesh and foam with pore size 37-50 μm. Accordingly, the lab flow test built-in house was employed with a controlled retention time at 6 second. The removal efficiency was determined by monitoring the remaining arsenic and mercury content in the treated condensates compared to the initial concentrations in the fresh condensates by an atomic absorption spectrometer. Moreover, the regeneration processes of the used metal filter via heat and chemical treatment were also included in this study. The flow test result revealed that the stainless-steel foam exhibited highest arsenic and mercury removal efficiency with 69% and 80%, respectively. The best performance of arsenic and mercury removal in mesh structure showed on copper mesh with removal efficiency 50% and 28%, respectively. This implies that the morphological structure of the same material type also had a significant effect on the efficiency in mercury and arsenic removal apart from the type of material used. It was found that the foam structure has an improved removal efficiency for both arsenic and mercury decontaminations. Consequently, the foam structure was chosen for the further investigation on its reusability by the regenerative test, i.e., heat treatment for mercury removal and chemical treatment for arsenic removal. This indicates potential for further development to optimize its performance in effectively treating condensate with high mercury and arsenic concentrations. Furthermore, the utilization of metal filter offers an added safety benefit by mitigating the risk of hazardous mercury exposure to both operators and the surrounding environment. This study involves the first stage of research development on using metal-based substrates with micromesh and foam structure for decontamination of petroleum products. Cost effectiveness is one of our concerns which could make this study more realistic in operation. Possible removal mechanisms of arsenic and mercury including regenerative method of metal filter technology approach have been proposed.