Membrane Technologies and Applications to Produced Water Treatment

Abstract

Various technologies to treat produced water have been extensively reviewed in the literature, including membranes and physical, biological, thermal, or chemical treatments. Fundamental principles of membrane technology, such as separation mechanism, fouling behavior, system configuration, and energy efficiency, had been described.13, 16-21 The advantages and drawbacks of membranes against the competing technologies were discussed. Without intending to exhaustively review the membrane technology for produced water treatment, this chapter aims to provide examples of state-of-the-art membranes and processes for treating the produced water. The challenges of the membrane technology are described, and various strategies of membrane design and modification to overcome the challenges are presented.