Use of Microbubble Reactors for Produced Water Treatment: A Case-Based Review

The most important by-product produced by an oil and gas operation is produced water (PW), a product produced in quantities that frequently surpass crude oil production itself. This wastewater is a constant problem to manage due to its complexity, including its mixture of dispersed oil, salts, metals, dissolved organic compounds, and treatment chemicals. More conventional processes, such as gravity separation, hydro cyclones, and membrane systems, are effective to a greater or lesser extent but tend to fail during high salinity events, emulsified hydrocarbons, or variable influent qualities. The microbubble reactor (MBR) has become an innovative solution that has been promising in recent years. MBRs enabled by the distinctive chemical and physical characteristics of microbubbles (i.e., high surface area-to-volume ratio, increased gas dissolution, and reactive oxygen species production) have the potential to enhance the efficiency in oil/water separation, pollutant degradation, and fouling management. This review looks at the opportunity presented by MBRs to treat produced water in a case-study style format.