Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Degradation of petroleum pollutants in oil-based drilling cuttings using an Fe2+-based Fenton-like advanced oxidation processes

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Oil-based drilling cuttings (OBDC) contain a large amount of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) pollutants, which are hazardous to the environment. In this study, Fe2+-activating hydrogen peroxide (Fe2+/H2O2), peroxymonosulfate (Fe2+/PMS), and peroxydisulfate (Fe2+/PDS) advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) were used to treat OBDC due to the difference in the degradation capacity of TPH caused by the type of free radical generated and effective activation conditions observed for the different oxidants studied. The results showed that the oxidant concentration, Fe2+ dosage, and reaction time in the three AOPs were greatly positively correlated with the TPH removal rate in a certain range. The initial pH value had a significant effect on the Fe2+/H2O2 process, and its TPH removal rate was negatively correlated in the pH range from 3 to 11. However, the Fe2+/PMS and Fe2+/PDS processes only displayed lower TPH removal rates under neutral conditions and tolerated a wider range of pH conditions. The optimal TPH removal rates observed for the Fe2+/H2O2, Fe2+/PMS, and Fe2+/PDS processes were 45.04%, 42.75%, and 44.95%, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer analysis showed that the alkanes in OBDC could be effectively removed using the three processes studied, and their degradation ability toward straight-chain alkanes was in the order of Fe2+/PMS > Fe2+/PDS > Fe2+/H2O2, among which Fe2+/PMS exhibited the optimal removal effect for aromatic hydrocarbons. Scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction results showed no significant changes in the elemental and mineral composition of OBDC before and after treatment. Therefore, this study provided a theoretical reference for the effective degradation of TPH pollutants in OBDC.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.

References

  • Adhami S, Jamshidi-Zanjani A, Darban AK (2021) Remediation of oil-based drilling waste using the electrokinetic-Fenton method. Process Saf Environ Prot 149:432–441

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Akpoveta OV, Medjor WO, Medjor EA (2018) Fenton treatment via oxidative mechanism and its kinetics on soil polluted with automatic gas oil. Petroleum 4:452–456

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen W, Gu Z, Guo S, Li Q (2020a) Microwave-assisted Fe0-activated persulfate process for treating explosives in production wastewater. Chem Eng J 391:123497

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen W, He C, Gu Z, Wang F, Li Q (2020b) Molecular-level insights into the transformation mechanism for refractory organics in landfill leachate when using a combined semi-aerobic aged refuse biofilter and chemical oxidation process. Sci Total Environ 741:140502

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen W, He C, Zhuo X, Wang F, Li Q (2020c) Comprehensive evaluation of dissolved organic matter molecular transformation in municipal solid waste incineration leachate. Chem Eng J 400:126003

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen W, Luo Y, Ran G, Li Q (2019) An investigation of refractory organics in membrane bioreactor effluent following the treatment of landfill leachate by the O3/H2O2 and MW/PS processes. Waste Manage 97:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen Z, Chen Z, Yin F, Wang G, Chen H, He C, Xu Y (2017) Supercritical water oxidation of oil-based drill cuttings. J Hazard Mater 332:205–213

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chibiryaev AM, Kozhevnikov IV, Shalygin AS, Martyanov ON (2018) Transformation of petroleum asphaltenes in supercritical alcohols studied via FTIR and NMR techniques. Energy Fuels 32:2117–2127

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dai Y, Cao H, Qi C, Zhao Y, Wen Y, Xu C, Zhong Q, Sun D, Zhou S, Yang B, Yang S, He H, Li S (2023) L-cysteine boosted Fe(III)-activated peracetic acid system for sulfamethoxazole degradation: role of l-cysteine and mechanism. Chem Eng J 451:138588

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dai Y, Qi C, Cao H, Wen Y, Zhao Y, Xu C, Yang S, He H (2022) Enhanced degradation of sulfamethoxazole by microwave-activated peracetic acid under alkaline condition: influencing factors and mechanism. Sep Purif Technol 288:120716

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ding Y, Wang X, Fu L, Peng X, Pan C, Mao Q, Wang C, Yan J (2021) Nonradicals induced degradation of organic pollutants by peroxydisulfate (PDS) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS): Recent advances and perspective. Sci Total Environ 765:142794

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gao Y-Q, Rao Y-Y, Ning H, Chen J-X, Zeng Q, Tian F-X, Gao N-Y (2022) Comparative investigation of diclofenac degradation by Fe2+/chlorine and Fe2+/PMS processes. Sep Purif Technol 297:121555

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gu Z, Chen W, He C, Li Q (2022) Molecular insights into the transformation of refractory organic matter in landfill leachate nanofiltration concentrates during a flocculation and O3/H2O2 treatment. J Hazard Mater 435:128973

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gu Z, Chen W, Li Q, Zhang A (2020) Treatment of Semi-aerobic aged-refuse biofilter effluent from treating landfill leachate with the fenton method. Process Saf Environ Prot 133:32–40

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gu Z, Chen W, Wang F, Li Q (2019) Transformation and degradation of recalcitrant organic matter in membrane bioreactor leachate effluent by the O3/H2O2 process. Environ Sci: Water Res Technol 5:1748–1757

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo J, Gao Q, Chen Y, He Q, Zhou H, Liu J, Zou C, Chen W (2021) Insight into sludge dewatering by advanced oxidation using persulfate as oxidant and Fe2+ as activator: performance, mechanism and extracellular polymers and heavy metals behaviors. J Environ Manage 288:112476

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo S, Wang Q, Luo C, Yao J, Qiu Z, Li Q (2020) Hydroxyl radical-based and sulfate radical-based photocatalytic advanced oxidation processes for treatment of refractory organic matter in semi-aerobic aged refuse biofilter effluent arising from treating landfill leachate. Chemosphere 243:125390

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang Y, Ran J, Mao K, Yang X, Zhong L, Yang C, Feng X, Zhang H (2022) Recent progress in Fenton/Fenton-like reactions for the removal of antibiotics in aqueous environments. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 236:113464

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Zheng B, Yang Y, Chen K, Chen X, Huang X, Wang X (2022) Soil microbial ecological effect of shale gas oil-based drilling cuttings pyrolysis residue used as soil covering material. J Hazard Mater 436:129231

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu F, Zhao J, Ma Y, Liu Z, Xu Y, Zhang H (2022) Removal of diesel from soil washing effluent by electro-enhanced Fe2+ activated persulfate process. J Electroanal Chem 906:115995

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luo Z, Liu M, Tang D, Xu Y, Ran H, He J, Chen K, Sun J (2022) High H2O2 selectivity and enhanced Fe2+ regeneration toward an effective electro-Fenton process based on a self-doped porous biochar cathode. Appl Catal B 315:121523

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lv Q, Wang LA, Ma S, Jiang J, Liu L, Zhou Z, Liu L, Wang X, Bai J (2022) Pyrolysis of oil-based drill cuttings from shale gas field: Kinetic, thermodynamic, and product properties. Fuel 323:124332

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martone L, Minella M, Minero C, Sordello F, Vione D (2022) Effective degradation of ibuprofen through an electro-Fenton process, in the presence of zero-valent iron (ZVI-EF). J Clean Prod 367:132894

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • National Bureau of Statistics of China (2022) China Statistical Yearbook 2021. China Statistics Press, Beijing

  • Peng J, Wang Z, Wang S, Liu J, Zhang Y, Wang B, Gong Z, Wang M, Dong H, Shi J, Liu H, Yan G, Liu G, Gao S, Cao Z (2021) Enhanced removal of methylparaben mediated by cobalt/carbon nanotubes (Co/CNTs) activated peroxymonosulfate in chloride-containing water: reaction kinetics, mechanisms and pathways. Chem Eng J 409:128176

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Priyadarshini M, Das I, Ghangrekar MM, Blaney L (2022) Advanced oxidation processes: Performance, advantages, and scale-up of emerging technologies. J Environ Manage 316:115295

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qi C, Wen Y, Zhao Y, Dai Y, Li Y, Xu C, Yang S, He H (2022) Enhanced degradation of organic contaminants by Fe(III)/peroxymonosulfate process with l-cysteine. Chin Chem Lett 33:2125–2128

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shen Y, Zhao S, Lu Y, Yang J, Wang J, Zhang S (2022) Effective degradation of VOCs from wood by Fe2+ chelate activated dual oxidant (H2O2-PS). Chemosphere 291:132882

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shokri A, Fard MS (2022) A critical review in Fenton-like approach for the removal of pollutants in the aqueous environment. Environ Challenges 7:100534

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sivagami K, Anand D, Divyapriya G, Nambi I (2019) Treatment of petroleum oil spill sludge using the combined ultrasound and Fenton oxidation process. Ultrason Sonochem 51:340–349

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stefánsson A (2007) Iron(III) hydrolysis and solubility at 25 °C. Environ Sci Technol 41:6117–6123

    Google Scholar 

  • Tay FH, Kazarian SG (2009) Study of petroleum heat-exchanger deposits with ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging. Energy Fuels 23:4059–4067

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tian Y, Jia N, Zhou L, Lei J, Wang L, Zhang J, Liu Y (2022) Photo-Fenton-like degradation of antibiotics by inverse opal WO3 co-catalytic Fe2+/PMS, Fe2+/H2O2 and Fe2+/PDS processes: a comparative study. Chemosphere 288:132627

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang S, Wu J, Lu X, Xu W, Gong Q, Ding J, Dan B, Xie P (2019) Removal of acetaminophen in the Fe2+/persulfate system: kinetic model and degradation pathways. Chem Eng J 358:1091–1100

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Guo S, Gu Z, Zhang A (2020) Comparison study on microwave irradiation-activated persulfate and hydrogen peroxide systems in the treatment of dinitrodiazophenol industrial wastewater. Chemosphere 242:125139

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watts RJ, Ahmad M, Hohner AK, Teel AL (2018) Persulfate activation by glucose for in situ chemical oxidation. Water Res 133:247–254

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Ding L, Zhang C, Shao T, Chen W (2022) Experimental study on the treatment of oil-based drill cutting by pulsed dielectric barrier discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure. J Clean Prod 339:130757

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xia C, Liu Q, Zhao L, Wang L, Tang J (2022) Enhanced degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil by FeS@BC activated persulfate and its mechanism. Sep Purif Technol 282:120060

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xiong D-M, Wang C-Q, Wang P-X, Ding H-Z, Yang J-L, Qin Y-J (2022) Study on environment-friendly disposal and utilization of oil-based drilling cuttings solidified body of shale gas. Constr Build Mater 327:127043

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang H, Liu Y, Bai G, Liao R, Zhang Y, Xia S (2021) Enhanced and selective adsorption of tamoxifen using sodium dodecyl sulfate modified oil-based drill cutting ash. Sep Purif Technol 278:119660

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang H, Liu Y, Bai G, Zhang Y, Xia S (2022) Study on the co-pyrolysis characteristics of oil-based drill cuttings and lees. Biomass Bioenerg 160:106436

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan X, Guan R, Wu Z, Jiang L, Li Y, Chen X, Zeng G (2018) Effective treatment of oily scum via catalytic wet persulfate oxidation process activated by Fe2+. J Environ Manage 217:411–415

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 611756, China

    Xinglong Chen & Shiqi Mu

  2. Department of Ecology and Environment of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Academy of Environmental Policy and Planning, Chengdu, 610093, China

    Yuanfeng Luo

Authors
  1. Xinglong Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shiqi Mu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuanfeng Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Xinglong Chen: investigation, formal analysis, and writing—original draft; Shiqi Mu: investigation and visualization; Yuanfeng Luo: methodology, funding acquisition, supervision, and writing—review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuanfeng Luo.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Ricardo A. Torres-Palma

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chen, X., Mu, S. & Luo, Y. Degradation of petroleum pollutants in oil-based drilling cuttings using an Fe2+-based Fenton-like advanced oxidation processes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 37669–37678 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24925-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24925-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation