Development of an Advanced Membrane-Based Wastewater Treatment Process for Remediation of High-Salinity Wastewater from the Petroleum Industry

缺乏清洁的淡水是一个迫在眉睫的严重关切问题。它对发展中国家和发达国家的人民都产生了不利影响，联合国预测，在短短十多年内，世界上近一半的人口将持续缺水。处理这类废流是一种日益增长的必要做法，不仅可以减少它们对环境和我们福祉的不利影响，而且还可以改善可供再利用的水资源。这类废物本身成分复杂，成分多变，随时间和地质条件而异，但其盐度升高仍然是处理和再利用的关键限制之一。海水淡化已被广泛研究和应用于获取淡水供应和减少含盐工业废水对环境的不利影响，基于膜的过程引起了学术界和工业界的研究人员和政策制定者的注意。Petro-Techna International Ltd和Lambton College联手开发了一种低成本、高性能和耐用的纳米工程复合膜，用于直接接触膜蒸馏(DCMD)，用于高效处理与石油和天然气工业相关的高盐度工业废水。本研究的目的是合成和优化一系列具有高孔隙率、优异的抗污染和润湿性、优异的机械和化学稳定性以及低成本的高疏水性纳米复合膜，用于处理含油气活动的高矿化度废水。这一合作的成功完成将大大有利于石油技术国际有限公司，并有可能增加他们的年收入以及技术和专业人员队伍。

Scarcity of clean, fresh water is an issue of immediate and grave concern. It adversely impacts people from both developing and developed countries and the United Nations has predicted that in just over a decade, nearly half the world population will experience persistent water shortages. The treatment of such waste streams is a growing and necessary practice that not only curtails their adverse effects on the environment and our well-being, but also improves available water resources for reuse. Such waste streams are inherently complex with inconstant compositions, which vary with temporal and geologic conditions, but their elevated salinity remains one of the key limitations for treatment and reuse. Desalination has been extensively studied and employed for accession of freshwater supplies and reduction of adverse environmental impacts of saline industrial wastewater, and membrane-based processes have attracted the attention of researchers and policy makers from both academia and industry.Petro-Techna International Ltd and Lambton College have joined forces to develop a low-cost, high-performance, and durable nano-engineered composite membrane for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) applications for efficient treatment of high-salinity industrial wastewater associated with the oil and gas industry. Th aim of theresearch project is to synthesize and optimize a series of highly hydrophobic, nano-composite membranes with high porosity, superior anti-fouling and wetting properties, excellent mechanical and chemical stability and low cost for treatment of high salinity wastewater associated with oil and gas activities. The successful completion of this collaboration will significantly benefit Petro-Techna International Ltd. and has the potential to increase their annual revenue and technical and professional workforce.