Tratamento biológico de água de produção de petróleo,via sulfetogênese, utilizando reator em bateladas sequenciais

Abstract

The oil production process is an activity that generates significant negative environmental impacts. The production water or produced water (PW) is the wastewater generated during the extraction of oil and stands out due to its high level of salinity and toxicity. Due to the large volume produced and their complex composition, the treatment of this waste presents a major challenge that requires the urgent need for accessible and efficient treatment techniques development and studies according to the economic reality of each region. In order to facilitate a biological treatment of the residue, it was diluted with Synthetic wastewater with a high sulfate concentration to stimulate anaerobic digestion via sulfidogenesis, since Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) have the characteristic of being resistant to saline environments. Therefore, an anaerobic reactor was used with suspended biomass, operated in sequential batch with cycles of 24 hours in laboratory scale. The reactor was operated with increasing proportions of PW (0%, 2% and 5%), with average chloride concentrations, respectively, 150 mg.L-1, 2.000 mg.L-1 and 4.800 mg.L-1 and COD/SO42- ratios ranging from 0.7 to 2.4. In the stimulation of sulfidogenesis phase the average COD removal efficiency was reduced by 72% (step without sulfate) to 51%, even without adding PW (COD/SO42- = 2.4 and chloride concentration of 150 mg.L- 1). When the system was fed with 2% of PW (COD / SO42- = 0.7 and chloride concentration 2,000 mg.L-1), the COD efficiency remained at 50% and only 15% of this was removed via sulfidogenesis. The proportion of 2% PW was maintained and the ratio COD/SO42- was raised to 1.5 and the average COD removal increased to 55%. By increasing the ratio of Apr to 5% (COD / SO42- = 1.8 and chloride concentration 4.800 mg.L-1) COD removal efficiency was 47%, and 68% of this was removed via sulfidogenesis. These results indicate the viability of using sulfate as an electron acceptor in the treatment of PW, given the occurrence of increase in the reduction of sulphate when the salinity was high, indicating that the effect of salinity stimulated the removal of COD via sulfidogenesis and inhibited via methanogenic.