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updated 9/25/14
Updated 10/21/14
Updated 11/04/14
Updated 12/12/14
Updated 1/07/15
Background
Increased use of natural gas and other unconventional sources of petroleum are resulting in the need to remove emulsified oil from water as part of the industrial water treatment systems. Oils can be difficult to remove due to the oil properties and materials in the water. Numerous mechanical and chemical systems are used in oil water separation based on cost that include both operating and capital investment, separation efficiency such as the amount of oil in water, amount of water in oil, and robustness including the ease of the system’s ability to handle flow rate fluctuations when large volumes of oil or water are fed to the treatment system unexpectedly.
Problem Statement
Design a cost effective, efficient and robust 100 gpm water treatment system that incorporates mechanical, chemical, and/or controls to remove emulsified oil from a brackish water stream intended for reuse in a plant or process.
Design Considerations
Your proposed design should provide specific details and outcomes as follows:
- Demonstrate the process efficacy through your bench-scale apparatus
- Estimate the total energy requirement to complete the full-scale process
- Identify the amount of waste produced from your team’s process
- Provide water quality data after your team’s oil removal process
- Address system operation parameters
- Address health and safety issues
Bench-Scale Demonstration
During the contest, WERC will provide you up to 5 gallons of a 100 mg/L 10 gallons of a 200 mg/L sonicated oil-water solution (see 1/07/15 update). Your task is to design and test a working prototype of your system that is able to process a minimum of 1 gallon of the provided oil-water solution (see below). The prototype will be set up and operated at the design contest. For analysis purposes, you will submit a 500 mL sample of your feed solution, a 500 mL sample of your treated water and a minimum of 20 ~8 mL sample of removed oil.
Vegetable oil will be used for the bench-scale demonstration in order to address any EHS considerations. The criteria for evaluation is the degree of oil water separation; specifically, the absence of oil in the treated water sample and the absence of water in the oil sample. The ideal solution will present a high degree of separation.
Additionally the sponsors are interested in the teams identifying a basis for down selecting to a given technology for use include the pros and cons of the technologies that should include ease of operation, maintenance, performance, and others. Should a team choose their own sonificaton technology/methodology, this comparisons must still be carried out. Finally the sponsors are interested in any lessons learned from the lab simulation sonification challenge, set-up, operation, what worked and what did not work, proposed enhancements, modifications and others. This should not be about purchasing the most expensive sonicator in the market place but identifying the best available and applicable technology based on the task parameters.
Task has 2 components – sonication and separation. The prime purpose is to remove the oil from the water so that the water can be further treated. The sponsor is interested in that the teams find all available information from various sources on sonification technologies for oil and water. The primary application is for removal of oil to prevent equipment damage in advanced water treatment. The criteria for evaluation is the degree of oil water separation; specifically, the absence of oil in the treated water sample and the absence of water in the oil sample. The ideal solution will present a high degree of separation. The task is for the teams to sonicate and separate. Whatever water we give you at the contest, your team must demonstrate your sonication approach as that is part of the evaluation process.
The brackish water used for sample preparation at the contest will be similar to the composition listed for brackish water in Task 3.
We are going to increase the limit for the feed concentration to 200 mg/L. And request that each team process a 10 gallon sample.
10 gal = 37.86 L
37.86 L @ 200 mg/L = 7572 mg oil = 7.572 g oil
7.572 g oil @ density of 0.92 g/mL = ~8 mL of oil will need to be collected from each team.
Written Report Requirements
The written report should demonstrate your team’s insight into the full scope of the issue and include all aspects of the problem and your proposed solution. The report will be evaluated for quality of writing, organization, clarity, reason, and coherence. Standards for publications in technical journals apply. In addition to the listed requirements, your report must address in detail the items highlighted in the Problem Statement, Design Considerations, and Evaluation Criteria.
Evaluation Criteria
Each team is advised to read the Participation Guide for a comprehensive understanding of the contest evaluation criteria. Upon registration, WERC will provide you with a copy of the Public Involvement Plan and Participation Guide. Additionally, your proposed design will be evaluated on the following:
- Technical fundamentals, performance, safety and other issues stated in the problem statement
- Potential for real-life implementation
- Thoroughness and quality of the business plan and economic analysis
- Originality, innovativeness, functionality, ease of use, maintainability, reliability, and affordability of the proposed technology
Specifically for this Task, your design will be evaluated on the following:
- How well the bench-scale represents your full scale design concept
- Your team’s ability to produce the sonicated feed water solution at your home site (must be reported in the paper)
- The amount and quality of treated water: the bench-scale processed water will be evaluated for: (1) treated water volume, separation efficiency, and time to process; and (2) effectiveness of the treatment approach – a minimum of 20 mL of removed oil is expected. Judging consideration will include points for achieving the target oil/water solution feed sample, the absence of oil in the treated water and the absence of water in the final oil sample.