Oxidation of Oil Sand Process Water (OSPW) by Ozone combined with Ultrasonic irradiations

The aim of this project is to develop a treatment system for the oxidation of naphthenic acids from the oil sand process water. The organic acids, chlorides and aromatic compounds are released into water during extraction of bitumen and heavy oil from the oils sands. Bioremediation is a cost effective and natural w ay, but high concentration and complex structure of these pollutants makes renders this treatment ineffective. Although number of studies have been published in the literature for the degradation of napthenic acids, but lower removal of TOC suggest an incomplete removal of these pollutants. The proposed research w ill involve the use of ozone and ultrasonication for the complete mineralization or conversion into smaller molecules suitable for biodegradation. EnviroWay R&D has been involved in the remediation of environmental pollutants, developed technology w ill enhance their understanding of removal of petroleum pollutants, scale up and commercialization of this technology.

Faculty Supervisor:

dr. Ajay Dalai

Student:

Pardeep Kumar

Partner:

EnviroWay R&D Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

University of Saskatchewan