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Model development for naphthenic acids ozonation process

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Abstract

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are toxic constituents of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) which is generated during the extraction of bitumen from oil sands. NAs consist mainly of carboxylic acids which are generally biorefractory. For the treatment of OSPW, ozonation is a very beneficial method. It can significantly reduce the concentration of NAs and it can also convert NAs from biorefractory to biodegradable. In this study, a factorial design (24) was used for the ozonation of OSPW to study the influences of the operating parameters (ozone concentration, oxygen/ozone flow rate, pH, and mixing) on the removal of a model NAs in a semi-batch reactor. It was found that ozone concentration had the most significant effect on the NAs concentration compared to other parameters. An empirical model was developed to correlate the concentration of NAs with ozone concentration, oxygen/ozone flow rate, and pH. In addition, a theoretical analysis was conducted to gain the insight into the relationship between the removal of NAs and the operating parameters.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for providing financial support for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2 K3, Canada

    Ali Kamel H. Al jibouri & Jiangning Wu

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  1. Ali Kamel H. Al jibouri
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  2. Jiangning Wu
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Correspondence to Jiangning Wu.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Al jibouri, A.K.H., Wu, J. Model development for naphthenic acids ozonation process. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 2558–2565 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3529-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3529-9

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