TERTIARY-TREATMENT OF OIL-FIELD BRINE IN A BIOSORPTION SYSTEM WITH GRANULATED ACTIVATED CARBON

This work describes the possibility of application of a biosorption sy stem with granulated activated carbon (GAG) for the tertiary treatment of oil-field brine. In addition to the dissolved and dispersed oil, t he oil-field brine contained about 29 g/l of mineral matter, mainly Na Cl. The investigation was carried out on two columns, each containing 300 g of GAG. To form the biofilm on GAC use was made of the microorga nisms from the setup for the purification of refinery wastewaters by a ctivated sludge procedure. The wastewater flow-rate through the column s was 40, 70, 95 and 130 l/d. It was found that the activated carbon i n the columns was capable of removing 2.6 times more organic matter th an was its adsorption capacity, and its adsorption power was not thus exhausted. The results indicate that the microorganisms present in the biofilm on activated carbon oxidize the adsorbed pollutants and thus regenerate the carbon surface. The procedure employed was very efficie nt-the organic matter content in the effluent did not exceed 2.5 mg/l (BOD5). Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.