Wastewater Treatments from Oil Recovery Processes

Contaminate wastewater is always a byproduct or residue from virtually all processes that recovery oil content from a plethora of sources, inter alia: oil sands (oil sands), tertiary oil wells, tank washing, ships slops & bilge water, garage & cooking oil disposal, oil spills & slicks.

The days are long over when such contaminated water could be just dumped into the seas or rivers or on land or down drains. It is now a moral and legal requirement that such contaminated water be first fully treated to remove all pollutants and contaminants (particulate oil) before discharge or disposal or even reuse.

Current general processes for dealing with residual water treatments:

  1. Separation of Oil and Water:

    • Using gravity separation or ‘coalescence’ techniques to separate oil from water. This can involve allowing the mixture to settle in a pond or long term settling tank (aka gun barrel separators), then using skimming devices to remove floating oil, or employing coalescing filters to facilitate oil droplet coalescence.

  2. Emulsion Breaking with Demulsifiers:

    • If the residual water contains stable oil-in-water emulsions, demulsifiers can be added to destabilize the emulsions and promote phase separation.

  3. Filtration:

    • By passing the treated water through filtration systems to remove suspended solids, particulate matter, and any remaining oil droplets. Filtration methods may include sand filters, activated carbon filters, or multimedia filters.

  4. Chemical Treatment:

    • Depending on the composition of the residual water and the contaminants present, chemical treatment may be necessary to further remove pollutants. Chemical additives such as flocculants or coagulants can be used to aggregate fine particles, improve settling, and enhance pollutant removal efficiency.

  5. Biological Treatment (Optional):

    • In some cases, biological treatment methods such as bioremediation or biofiltration may be employed to degrade organic contaminants in residual water. Microorganisms can break down organic pollutants into harmless byproducts under controlled conditions.

  6. Disinfection:

    • Treat the water with disinfectants such as chlorine or ultraviolet (UV) radiation to kill harmful microorganisms and pathogens, ensuring that the treated water meets regulatory standards for safe discharge or disposal.

  7. Monitoring and Testing:

    • Regularly monitoring and testing the treated water to ensure that it meets environmental regulations and discharge standards. Analyse key parameters such as oil content, suspended solids, pH, and microbial contamination levels.

  8. Discharge or Disposal:

    • Once the residual water has been adequately treated and meets regulatory requirements, it can be discharged into the sea or discharged into appropriate onshore facilities for further treatment or disposal. Ensuring compliance with local environmental regulations and obtaining necessary permits for discharge operations.

  9. Record Keeping:

    • Maintaining detailed records of the residual water treatment process, including treatment methods, chemical usage, monitoring results, and discharge activities. Good record keeping helps demonstrate regulatory compliance and facilitates environmental stewardship.

FORTecx R&D

FORTecx has 4 phases to its water treatment process, each tailored to meet our client’s needs, circumstances and requirements and dependant on their various oil recovery programs.

  1. Remove oil content
  2. Remove suspended inorganic contaminates
  3. Remove solid inorganic contaminates eg. heavy metals
  4. Remove organic contaminates and infestations eg. bacteria & fungal

Such processes have to be:

  • reliable
  • as unintrusive as is possible
  • with as little capital outlay as is feasible
  • efficient and effective
  • economically viable
  • a continuous process (not by batch processing).

IP& Patents

FORTecx’s water treatment IP encompasses 4 Disciplines:

  1. Powerful demulsifiers to quickly and efficiently remove the oil content
  2. Removal of suspended inorganic contaminates by chemical & physical processes
  3. Removal of solid inorganic contaminated, by centrifuge or by chemical process
  4. Removal of organic contaminates by way of an advanced, environmentally safe biocide, leaving negligible residues.
  5. As each discipline makes another significant forward step, updated patents will be filed.