Description
There is a demand to develop efficient method of treatment of water from recalcitrant and toxic organic compounds. Available water treatment technologies are cost-effective or merely concentrate the pollutants by transferring them to other phases, but still remain not completely destroyed. An imperative and challenging issue is to develop novel environmental friendly and efficient technology of water treatment. Overall objective of the project is the development of photocatalytic water treatment technology using a new generation photocatalysts active under visible light. Second important issue is construction of photoreactor operated under direct solar irradiation. Photoreactor design will focus on low operating costs inventions with high mass transfer rates. The project will enable application of developed photocatalysts with high activity. New mobile installation which comprised of photoreactor working under solar or artificial radiation addressed for treatment of wastewater from extraction mineral resources. Target groups of the project are companies involved in production of hydrocarbons and treatment of produced wastewaters.
Summary of project results
Opportunity of exploration of shale gas is coupled with major environmental negative aspects where flow back and produced water containing toxic and recalcitrant organic pollutants are one of major concerns. Due to complex and biocidal matrix, high salinity combined with large volumes of flow back waters, currently most common and efficient treatment methods (biological) are not applicable or application is very costly. In this regard, the project objective is to developed alternative, novel method of produced and flow back water treatment and in long term can have major impact on changing current industry wastewater treatment processes. The project output is developed and preparation new generation photocatalysts highly active under visible light irradiation and used in environmentally friendly technologies related to hydrocarbons production. Going out lab-scale a complex bench-scale mobile installation was developed. To provide effective and economical process solution it was decided to built the system that will use solar radiation whenever it is available and artificial light when solar conditions are not favorable for the process i.e. cloudy day or during night. Therefore LED lamps based artificial photoreactor was designed as well as two different solar systems. Novel spinning fluid photoreactor system show high efficiency and is the basis of patent application. In total project provided complex and comprehensive solution for flowback wastewater treatment which can be easily used around the Europe. Number of innovative solutions provided possibility for 2 patent applications of project outputs. The target groups of the project are companies involved in the production of hydrocarbons and treatment of produced waters with complex matrix.
Summary of bilateral results