Open Access

ARTICLE

Experimental Study on the Treatment of Tertiary Oil Recovery Wastewater via a Novel Electro-Coagulation Method

by Wei Cui^1,2,*, Zhilun Yan^1,2, Zhi Tang^1,2, Mengyao Xu^1,2, Jian Tian^1,2, Chengyi Shen^1,2

1 Petroleum Engineering Technology Research Institute of Sinopec Northwest Oilfield Company, Urumchi, 830011, China
2 Key Laboratory of Enhanced Oil Recovery in Carbonate Fractured-Vuggy Reservoirs, Urumchi, 830011, China

* Corresponding Author: Wei Cui. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advanced Oil and Gas Transportation and Treatment Technologies)

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2023, 19(1), 51-60. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2023.021499

Received 18 January 2022; Accepted 20 February 2022; Issue published 02 August 2022

Abstract

At present, methods for treating tertiary oil recovery wastewater via electro-coagulation are still in their early stage of development. In this study, a device for electro-coagulation wastewater treatment was built and tested in an oil field. The effects that the initial pH value, electrode type, and connection mode have on the coagulation and separation effect were assessed by measuring the mass fraction and turbidity of oil. The results have shown that when the electro-coagulation method is used, the effectiveness of the treatment can be significantly increased in neutral pH conditions (pH = 7), in acidic conditions, and in alkaline conditions. Compared to an Al electrode, the floc that is produced by an Fe electrode is smaller; thus, it does not easily coagulate and settle in a short time. Using the oil removal rate, turbidity removal rate and energy consumption as a basis to assess the performances, the results have demonstrated that the combined aluminum alloy iron composite electrode should be used as electrolytic electrode.

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Keywords

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