REVIEW OF U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY RESEARCH IN OIL-WATER SEPARATION TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

ABSTRACT The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sponsored two separate research contracts in the field of oil-water separation for the fiscal year 1974. One project, with Pollution Abatement Research, Inc., of Dallas, Texas, concerns the development of a chemically assisted, back-washable coalescer with chemically assisted backwash solids scrubber. This device is designed for use on offshore oil production platforms, although it has a wide potential of applicability. Preliminary tests made with large-volume samples of produced water from an offshore oil production platform yielded very promising results with less than 10 ppm produced oil in the effluent water. The second project, with the Ben Holt Company of Pasadena, California, is to develop a new concept of adsorption of oil-contaminated water onto a regenerable coked surface. The project is aimed at chemically stabilized emulsions and dissolved oils. A bench-scale device has been built, and testing has proven the feasibility of the concept. The rationale for the development of each of these devices is presented along with detailed information concerning test results of each device.