Remediation of oily-produced water from high-salinity oilfield using a low-cost, high-alumina calcium bentonite hollow fiber membrane

Discharging improperly treated oily-produced water (OPW) into the environment can have significant negative impacts on environmental sustainability. It can lead to pollution of water sources, damage to aquatic ecosystems and potential health hazards for individuals living in the affected areas. Ceramic hollow fiber membrane (CHFM) technology is one of the most effective OPW treatment methods for achieving high oil removal efficiency while maintaining membrane water permeability. In this study, low-cost calcium bentonite hollow fiber membranes (CaB-HFMs) were prepared from high-alumina calcium bentonite clay with various preparation parameters, including calcium bentonite content, sintering temperature, air gap distance and bore fluid rate. The prepared CaB-HFMs were then subjected to characterization using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a three-point bending test, porosity, average pore size, hydraulic resistance and flux recovery ratio (FRR) analysis. Statistical analysis employing central composite design (CCD) assessed the interaction between the parameters and their effect on CaB-HFM water permeability and oil removal efficiency. Higher ceramic content and sintering temperature led to reduced porosity, smaller pore size and higher mechanical strength. In contrast, increasing the air gap distance and bore fluid rate exhibit different trends, resulting in higher porosity and pore size, along with weaker mechanical strength. Other than that, all of the CaB-HFMs displayed low hydraulic resistance (<0.01 m2 h.bar/L) and high FRR value (up to 95.2%). Based on CCD, optimal conditions for CaB-HFM were determined as follows: a calcium bentonite content of 50 wt.%, a sintering temperature of 1096 °C, an air gap distance of 5 cm and a bore fluid rate of 10 mL/min, with the desirability value of 0.937. Notably, the optimized CaB-HFMs demonstrated high oil removal efficiency of up to 99.7% with exceptional water permeability up to 535.2 L/m2.h.bar. The long-term permeation study also revealed it was capable of achieving a high average water permeation and a stable oil rejection performance of 522.15 L/m2.h.bar and 99.8%, respectively, due to their inherent hydrophilic and antifouling characteristics, making it practical for OPW treatment application.