DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR GLYCOL REMOVAL FROM WASTE WATER IN GAS FIELDS

Abstract

Oil and gas plants generate large volumes of water during production and processing of oil and gas. Industrial produced water contains glycols along with other organic and inorganic compounds. It is essential to treat such water before discharge to the environment as it can have significant impacts on the environment.

In this thesis advanced oxidation process (AOP) is used in removal of mono ethylene glycol (MEG) using Fenton oxidation process which is a promising technology as an alternative treatment to conventional waste water treatment methods and as an enhancement of current biological treatment methods dealing with highly toxic non-biodegradable wastes. Fenton’s reagent is a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and iron salt [Fe]+2 which produce hydroxyl radicals [HO•] at acidic pH medium at ambient temperature and pressure. In this study, experiments were conducted in lab scale batches to reach to the optimum conditions for removal of MEG. The removal efficiency was followed by measurements of chemical oxygen demand (COD) before and after treatment.