Accelerated remediation of oil-sands process water by complementary pairing of advanced oxidation and biodegradation

阿尔伯塔省北部的油砂储量估计包含1.7万亿桶沥青形式的石油，是世界上最大的原油储量之一。最近油砂开发的加速导致它们目前占加拿大能源总产量的很大一部分，据估计，到2020年，油砂的总产量将达到每天200-300万桶。露天开采生产的每1桶石油需要2至5桶淡水，其中只有一小部分返回自然系统。这是因为受油砂工艺影响的水(OSPW)对水生生物具有剧毒，因此必须现场保留在工程沉淀池中数十年。为了跟上蓬勃发展的工业的步伐，需要新的OSPW填海选择，以加快对它们的补救，并减少淡水资源的净压力。OSPW的有毒成分是从油砂中共同提取的天然有机化合物-环烷酸(NAS)的复杂混合物。使用高度特异和灵敏的分析方法，我们将：i)表征OSPW中Nas如何因微生物活动而缓慢降解；ii)应用和评估高级氧化技术的有效性，以销毁有毒和具有生物持久性的NA组分；以及iii)确保OSPW中高级氧化Nas对包括鱼类在内的水生生物毒性较小。初步结果显示，这一战略很有可能是有效的，通过与行业的密切合作，我们确保将新知识迅速转化为实践。这一改进的OSPW补救战略将加强和维持加拿大的能源行业，继续为加拿大人创造财富和创造就业机会，同时保护支持人类和环境健康的北艾伯塔省脆弱的北方生态系统。

Oil sands deposits of Northern Alberta contain an estimated 1.7 trillion barrels of oil in the form of bitumen, representing among the largest reserves of crude oil in the world. Recent acceleration of their development has resulted in their accounting for a major fraction of Canada's total energy production today and it is estimated that total production from oil sands will be 2-3 million barrels per day by 2020. For every 1 barrel of oil produced by surface mining, between 2 and 5 barrels of freshwater are required and only a small fraction of this is returned to natural systems. This is because oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) is acutely toxic to aquatic organisms and, therefore, must be retained on-site in engineered settling ponds for decades. To keep pace with the booming industry, new OSPW reclamation options are needed to accelerate their remediation and to reduce the net pressures on freshwater resources. The toxic constituents of OSPW are a complex mixture of naturally occurring organic compounds that are co-extracted from the oil sands - naphthenic acids (NAs). Using a highly specific and sensitive analytical method we will i) characterize how NAs slowly degrade by microbial activity in OSPW, ii) apply and assess the effectiveness of advanced oxidation techniques to destroy the toxic and biologically-persistent NA fractions, and iii) ensure that advanced oxidized NAs in OSPW are less toxic to aquatic organisms, including fish. Preliminary results show great promise that this strategy can be effective, and by working closely with the industry we ensure a rapid translation of new knowledge into practice. This improved OSPW remediation strategy will strengthen and sustain Canada's energy industry to continue generating wealth and creating employment for Canadians while simultaneously protecting the fragile boreal ecosystems of Northern Alberta that support human and environmental health.