Search

KR-20260064999-A - COMPOSITE WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM USING REUSE AND ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE OF OIL SAND TREATED WATER, AND METHOD FOR THE SAME

KR20260064999AKR 20260064999 AKR20260064999 AKR 20260064999AKR-20260064999-A

Abstract

A combined water treatment system and method utilizing the reuse and zero-discharge of oil sands production water are provided, which, when treating high-temperature and high-concentration wastewater generated during the oil sands mining process, includes not only the reuse of oil sands production water but also a zero-discharge process, and is composed mainly of membrane-based processes, thereby significantly reducing energy consumption compared to existing thermal processes and reducing carbon emissions. Furthermore, the stability and efficiency of the reverse osmosis membrane can be maintained through chemical-free operation in the pretreatment process, and high-quality reused water can be produced with a high recovery rate and pollutant generation can be significantly reduced through a process configuration that enables both the reuse and zero-discharge of oil sands wastewater.

Inventors

  • 황태문
  • 구재욱
  • 김은주
  • 남숙현
  • 신용현

Assignees

  • 한국건설기술연구원

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20241030

Claims (20)

  1. A particulate oil and suspended matter removal module (110) that performs a pretreatment process to remove particulate oil and suspended matter in oil sand wastewater; a fine oil and organic matter removal module (120) that performs a pretreatment process to remove fine oil and organic matter in the oil sand wastewater; an ionic substance removal module (130) that performs a main treatment process to secure reusable water and steam water by removing ionic substances including corrosive substances and non-degradable substances in the oil sand wastewater; and a concentrated water recovery module (140) that performs a posttreatment process to recover high-concentration concentrated water generated during the removal of ionic substances. A combined water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, comprising a supplementary water supply module (150) that performs a supplementary water treatment process to supply steam water along with the reused water produced through the main treatment process, and characterized by performing combined water treatment to treat and reuse wastewater containing oil and oil components, organic substances, corrosive hazardous chemicals, and inorganic salts in the oil sands wastewater.
  2. In paragraph 1, A combined water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized in that each production water treated through the above ionic substance removal module (130), the above concentrated water recovery module (140), and the above supplementary water supply module (150) is collected for reuse and supplied to a boiler package.
  3. In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned particulate oil and suspended solids removal module (110) is an IGF (Induced Gas Flotation)-Coreless Filter that performs a pre-treatment process, wherein the IGF uses a gas flotation method to remove oil, and the Coreless Filter is an MNFF (Multi Nozzle Fine Filtration) that removes contaminants by having water introduced through parallel filters undergo a fine filtration process through multiple nozzles, thereby forming a composite water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge.
  4. In paragraph 3, The above-mentioned IGF-coreless filter is a composite water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by removing approximately 90% of particulate oil and suspended solids having a TOC concentration range of 100 mg/L contained in oil sands wastewater generated from an oil sands plant.
  5. In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned fine oil and organic matter removal module (120) is a ceramic separation membrane that performs a pretreatment process, and is characterized by removing fine particles and impurities using the ceramic separation membrane, in a composite water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge.
  6. In paragraph 5, A composite water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by the above ceramic membrane removing at least 90% of fine oil components in emulsion form and organic matter with a TOC concentration range of 10 mg/L that were not removed in the pretreatment process, to a TOC concentration range of 1 mg/L or less.
  7. In paragraph 1, The above ionic substance removal module (130) is a high-recovery reverse osmosis (RO) membrane that performs the main treatment process. It is characterized by removing dissolved substances by pressurizing water at high pressure and passing it through a reverse osmosis membrane, in a combined water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge.
  8. In Paragraph 7, The above high-recovery reverse osmosis (RO) membrane is characterized by removing ionic substances with a TDS concentration range of 2,000 to 5,000 mg/L through a high-efficiency reverse osmosis process, satisfying the water quality standards for steam water supply required for oil sand production, and securing high-quality recycled water through a recovery rate performance of over 90%, in a combined water treatment system utilizing oil sand production water recycling and zero discharge.
  9. In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned concentrated water recovery module (140) is a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) module that performs a post-treatment process, and is characterized by completely removing wastewater through evaporation and crystallization and separating it into solids and water, in a combined water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge.
  10. In Paragraph 9, The above-mentioned zero-discharge module (ZLD) is a composite water treatment system utilizing oil sand production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by recovering more than 30% of the high-concentration concentrated water generated after the main treatment process through a zero-discharge process to additionally secure steam water required for oil sand production.
  11. In paragraph 1, The above supplementary water supply module (150) is a capacitive deionization (CDI) module that performs a supplementary water treatment process and is characterized by producing high-purity supplementary water by removing fine particles and ions through electro-deionization, in a composite water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge.
  12. In Paragraph 11, A combined water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by the above-mentioned capacitive desalination module (CDI) treating a water source having a TDS concentration of 500 mg/L or less to supply steam water having a high recovery rate of 90% or more and a high desalination performance of 95% or more.
  13. In Paragraph 11, A composite water treatment system utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by having a polymer separation membrane (160) placed upstream of the above-mentioned capacitive desalination module (CDI) to first treat the raw water inflow, and removing fine particles and ions through the above-mentioned capacitive desalination module (CDI).
  14. In a complex water treatment method for high-temperature and high-concentration wastewater generated during the process of extracting oil from oil sands, a) a step of performing a pretreatment process to remove particulate oil and suspended solids in the oil sand wastewater; b) a step of performing a pretreatment process to remove fine oil and organic matter from the oil sand wastewater; c) A step of performing a main treatment process to secure recycled water and steam water by removing ionic substances, including corrosive and non-degradable substances, from the oil sand wastewater; d) a step of performing a post-treatment process to recover the high-concentration concentrated water generated during the desalination of the above ionic substance; and e) A step of performing a supplementary water treatment process to supply steam water along with the recycled water produced through the main treatment process. Includes, A combined water treatment method utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by performing combined water treatment to treat and reuse generated wastewater containing oil and oil components, organic substances, corrosive hazardous chemicals, and inorganic salts within the oil sands wastewater.
  15. In Paragraph 14, A combined water treatment method using oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized in that each production water processed through steps c) to e) above is collected for reuse and supplied to a boiler package.
  16. In Paragraph 14, A composite water treatment method utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized in that, in step a) above, a pre-treatment process is performed using an IGF-coreless filter, the IGF uses a gas flotation method to remove oil, and the coreless filter is an MNF, wherein water introduced through parallel-arranged filters undergoes a microfiltration process through a plurality of nozzles to remove contaminants.
  17. In Paragraph 14, A composite water treatment method utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by performing a pretreatment process with a ceramic membrane in step b) above and removing fine particles and impurities using the ceramic membrane.
  18. In Paragraph 14, A combined water treatment method utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by performing the main treatment process with a high-recovery reverse osmosis (RO) membrane in step c) above, and removing dissolved substances by pressurizing water to high pressure and passing it through the reverse osmosis membrane.
  19. In Paragraph 14, A combined water treatment method using oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by performing a post-treatment process with a zero discharge module (ZLD) in step d) above, and completely removing wastewater through evaporation and crystallization and separating it into solids and water.
  20. In Paragraph 14, A composite water treatment method utilizing oil sands production water reuse and zero discharge, characterized by performing a replenishment water treatment process using a polymer membrane and a capacitive deionization module (CDI) in step e) above, and producing high-purity replenishment water by removing fine particles and ions through the polymer membrane and electro-deionization.

Description

Composite water treatment system using reuse and zero liquid discharge of oil sand treated water and method thereof The present invention relates to a complex water treatment system for oil sands production water, and more specifically, to a complex water treatment system and method that includes not only the reuse of oil sands production water but also a zero-discharge process when treating high-temperature and high-concentration wastewater generated during the oil sands mining process. Despite the increasing global demand for oil due to industrialization and population growth, the limited supply of traditional oil resources has reached its limit, and additional exploration is necessitated due to concerns about resource depletion; as an alternative, the supply of unconventional oil resources is projected to continue increasing. These unconventional oil resources generally refer to oil resources extracted using methods different from or new to existing oil production methods. The term "unconventional" is used because these resources are found or extracted in regions that are difficult to reach using traditional crude oil production methods. Among these unconventional petroleum resources, oil sands are soil composed of sand and fine particles, and large quantities are reported to be deposited primarily in Alberta, Canada. These oil sands are gaining attention as one of the promising energy resources related to petroleum. Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the entire process of producing oil from conventional oil sands. Referring to Figure 1, 5 to 20 percent of the water sources used in the conventional oil sands mining process are water from nearby rivers, runoff, and non-salt groundwater, and 80 to 95 percent of the water used is recycled. Large amounts of water are used for the production of these oil sands, and the wastewater generated during the process is difficult to treat because it contains high concentrations of oil and grease components, organic matter, corrosive hazardous chemicals, and inorganic salts. Furthermore, discharge regulations are becoming extremely strict because releasing these oil sands into nearby rivers without proper treatment can cause severe environmental pollution to the local ecosystem. For example, Canada, a major oil sands production region, implements a zero-discharge policy to ensure that the emission of pollutants is completely impossible. Meanwhile, the petroleum component extracted from oil sands is a heavy, highly viscous black oil called bitumen, which accounts for about 10 to 12 percent of the oil sands. Although ordinary crude oil is lighter than water, bitumen has a specific gravity similar to water, so it does not flow in boreholes or pipelines in its natural state. Therefore, it is obtained by separately applying steam or mixing in a fluidizing agent to lower its specific gravity and viscosity, and then transporting it through a pipeline. Here, when steam is applied, a large amount of water is contained in the bitumen, so an oil-water separation process must be performed to recover the oil components; however, the production water generated after this oil component recovery still contains a large amount of oil and metal components. Therefore, in order to release or recycle it, it must undergo a production water treatment process to ensure it contains less than 5 ppm of oil. In particular, in the case of Canada, where large deposits of oil sands are located, recycling used water is essential because there is not a sufficient volume of groundwater near the oil sands, and the amount of water available for extraction is limited due to strict environmental standards. However, conventional production water treatment processes had a problem in that the lifespan of the piping was shortened and productivity was reduced due to the introduction of foreign substances or elemental components contained in the atmosphere into the stored treated water during the recycling process. Meanwhile, as prior art related to oil sands plants, Korean published patent number 2017-0100200 discloses an invention titled "Oil Sands Plant," which will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. Figure 2 is a diagram of an oil sands plant according to conventional technology. Referring to FIG. 2, an oil sand plant (10) according to the prior art comprises an oil sand layer (11), a heat supply pipe (12a), a mining pipe (12b), an oil separator (13), a heat exchanger (14), a membrane distillation device (15), a condenser (16), a temporary storage tank (17), a treated water tank (18), and a discharge pump (19). The heat supply pipe (12a) is buried underground and releases melting heat supplied by the boiler (12c) into the oil sand layer (11). The mining pipe (12b) is installed on one side of the heat supply pipe (12a) and mines bitumen with reduced viscosity by heat released from the heat supply pipe (12a). The oil separator (13) is installed to communicate with one end of the mining pipe (12b) and separa