Abstract
This study has the novel aim of experimentally examining the efficiency of a pilot-scale treatment plant, composed of a multi-tube type falling-film distillation column equipped with a biphasic thermosiphon, for treating a real sample of high-salinity produced water (electrical conductivity of 20,700 μS cm−1). It investigates the influence of operational parameters, including feed temperature and steam chamber temperature of the biphasic thermosiphon, on distillate flow rate and reduction of conductivity. All experimental conditions tested achieved a reduction greater than 98% in terms of electrical conductivity. The production of treated water increased with increasing feed temperature; the flow rate increased from 20.8 L h−1 to 28.2 L h−1 as the feed temperature was increased from 80 °C to 90 °C, when the steam chamber temperature was fixed at 119 °C. Within the temperature range of the steam chamber, the specific energy consumption during the treatment process, with respect to the biphasic thermosiphon, remained practically unchanged between 0.58 kWh L−1 and 0.60 kWh L−1, when the feed temperature was 90 °C. The results proved the potential of the falling-film distillation technology assisted by heat pipes to be a promising proposal for removing salinity from produced water from oil extraction operations.
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Data availability
The datasets utilized and/or analyzed in the current study can be made available by the corresponding author upon a reasonable request.
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Funding
The authors are grateful for the financial support from Brazil National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), the Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP) through the Human Resources Program for the Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Sector (PRH-11.1/2021-ANP/MCT), and from Brazil National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Brazil Process 152461/2022-1).
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Eduardo Carpes Dib: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, writing—original draft. Samaira Kraus: investigation, formal analysis, data curation. Ricardo Antonio Francisco Machado: resources, project administration. José Luiz Francisco Alves: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, visualization, writing—review and editing, supervision. Cintia Marangoni: conceptualization, resources, supervision, project administration, writing—review and editing.
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Dib, E.C., Kraus, S., Machado, R.A.F. et al. A novel intensified approach for treating produced water from oil extraction using a multi-tube type falling-film distillation column equipped with a biphasic thermosiphon: a promising feasibility study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 95025–95034 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29387-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29387-8