Hydrothermal oxidative degradation of organic compounds derived from produced water

Produced water contains various hazardous organic compounds such as BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene), phenolics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These compounds are stable and difficult to degrade by conventional wastewater treatment method. Aqueous based hydrothermal oxidative method is viewed as a promising approach for produced water treatment. The experiment was conducted in a micro-bomb reactor at subcritical water condition (200-300 oC) and 30 minute reaction time. Hydrogen peroxide was used as an oxidant. The reaction products were analyzed using a Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). The hydrothermal treatment in the absence of an oxidant showed minimal degradation of organics for the temperature range investigated. With the presence of an oxidant, the organics degradation increased drastically to near completion within the 30 minute reaction time at 300 oC. The results indicated that most of the organic compounds found in the produced water were successfully degraded using hydrothermal oxidative method