Ozone based technologies to remediate sulfolane contaminated sites

环丁砜是一种有机无色溶剂，广泛用于天然气加工和石油精炼作业。在北艾伯塔省和世界其他许多地区，最近发现使用环丁硫醚的天然气厂周围的地下水受到污染。由于环丁硫醚很容易与水混合，它会在远离污染源的地方传播，并影响饮用水含水率。该项目旨在开发一种基于臭氧的技术，可以在现场部署用于环丁硫烷污染场地的修复。预计这项技术将是有效的、可持续的，对现场的影响最小。这项研究建立在先前成功应用某些高级氧化工艺和生物降解技术修复受环丁砜污染的土壤和水的研究基础上。我们的最终目标是开发一套可用于修复受环丁硫烷污染的场地的技术。我们发现，水化学和现场条件限制了某些技术的适用性。该项目的目标是为此目的开发基于臭氧的技术。研究结果将使我们的工业合作伙伴受益，并帮助他们修复受环丁砜污染的场地，恢复含水层的环境质量。许多其他也面临环丁砜污染问题的加拿大石油和天然气公司也将受益。除了对加拿大的环境效益外，该项目开发的技术还可以被包括美国在内的其他国家的加拿大咨询公司用于修复类似的污染场地。

Sulfolane, an organic, colourless solvent is extensively used in natural gas processing and petroleum refining operations. Groundwater contamination around gas plants using sulfolane has recently been identified in Northern Alberta and many other parts of the world. As sulfolane easily mixes with water, it travels long distances from the source of contamination and affects drinking water aquifers.This project aims to develop a technology based on ozonation that could be deployed onsite for remediation of sulfolane contaminated sites. The technology is expected to be effective, sustainable with minimum site impact. The research builds on prior successful research on application of certain advanced oxidative processes and biodegradation to remediate sulfolane contaminated soils and water. Our ultimate goal is to develop a suite of technologies that can be used to remediate sulfolane contaminated sites. We have found that water chemistry and site conditions limit the applicability of certain technologies. This project is targeted towards developing ozone based technology for this purpose. The outcomes of the research will benefit our industrial partners and help them remediate their sulfolane contaminated sites and restore environmental quality of aquifers. Numerous other Canadian oil and gas companies which also face sulfolane contamination issues will also be benefited. Apart from environmental benefits to Canada, the technologies developed in this project can be used by Canadian consulting companies in other countries including USA to remediate similarly contaminated sites.