Development of advanced polymeric membranes for SAGD produced water treatment

石油价格的波动以及最近联邦和省政府为应对气候变化和保护水资源所做的努力，正促使油砂行业开发和部署能够降低每桶产品运营成本并减少资源开采过程中消耗的能源和淡水量的技术。加拿大油砂行业目前正在进行大量的研究和开发，以改善蒸汽辅助重力泄油（SAGD）工艺中的水处理工艺。在SAGD工艺中，将蒸汽注入地下以降低沥青的粘度并实现其提取。然后将蒸汽冷凝液和加热的沥青的乳液泵送到地面，在那里沥青和水被分离，水被处理后作为锅炉给水重新使用。**膜分离工艺通过提供更高的分离效率和更小的占地面积，为当前的能源和材料密集型水处理工艺（如离子交换和石灰软化器）提供了一种有前途的替代方案。此外，更耐热的膜材料具有改善SAGD工厂中的热集成的潜力，从而减少锅炉给水加热要求和温室气体产生。因此，拟议研究项目的目标是通过整合聚合物科学与工程，纳米颗粒合成以及胶体和界面科学，开发用于高温，化学苛刻SAGD采出水处理的创新膜材料。本论文将研究以下几个方面来优化油砂工业对水资源的可持续利用：（i）使用高性能聚合物通过相转化技术制备多孔膜;（ii）通过界面聚合反应合成薄膜复合膜;（iii）应用新型纳米粒子制备薄膜纳米复合膜;（iv）利用纳米粒子制备纳米复合膜;（iv）利用纳米粒子制备纳米复合膜。和（iv）改变膜表面化学和形貌以改善结垢和渗透性能。应用合成的高性能膜将产生更高纯度的锅炉给水，显著减少设备结垢，从而降低运营成本。

Fluctuating oil prices and recent Federal and Provincial efforts to address climate change and protect water resources are motivating the oil sands industry to develop and deploy technologies that can reduce the operating cost per barrel of product and reduce the amount of energy and fresh water consumed during resource extraction. A significant amount of research and development is currently underway in the Canadian oil sands industry to improve water treatment processes in the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process. In the SAGD process, steam is injected underground to decrease the viscosity of the bitumen and effect its extraction. An emulsion of steam condensate and heated bitumen is then pumped to the surface where the bitumen and water are separated, and the water is treated for reuse as boiler feed water.**Membrane separation processes offer a promising alternative to current energy- and material-intensive water treatment processes such as ion exchange and lime softener by providing higher separation efficiency and a smaller footprint. Furthermore, more thermally tolerant membrane materials have the potential to improve heat integration in SAGD plants, thereby reducing boiler feed water heating requirements and greenhouse gas production. Hence, the goal of the proposed research project is to develop innovative membrane materials for the treatment of high temperature, chemically harsh SAGD produced water by integrating polymer science and engineering, nanoparticle synthesis, and colloids and interface science. The following will be investigated to optimize the sustainable use of water by the oil sands industry: (i) the preparation of porous membranes by the phase inversion technique using high-performance polymers; (ii) synthesizing thin-film composite membranes by interfacial polymerization reaction; (iii) applying novel NPs to make thin-film nanocomposite membranes; and (iv) changing membrane surface chemistry and topography to improve fouling and permeation properties. Applying the synthesized high-performance membranes will result in higher-purity boiler feed water, significantly reducing equipment fouling, and thus decrease operating costs.**