Adsorption of Contaminants from Produced Water and HTL Aqueous Phase using low-cost Agrowaste Bio-Adsorbent

Large volumes of contaminated produced (PW) water from oil & gas industry is discharged untreated into the environment. Typical PW constituents are salts, total dissolved solids (TDS), PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), organic acids, and phenols. Similarly, in addition to the bio-crude from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) process, byproduct water phase is highly concentrated with organics, heavy metals, nitrogenous compounds (TN), and phosphates (TP) and cannot be discharged into the environment without being treated. This issue can be considered a bottleneck for wide application of HTL process in the future. With this large amount of contaminated PW and HTL water phase produced, it is of immense importance to manage it, considering cost effectiveness and environmental sustainability. Low-cost agro-based adsorbent could be considered a suitable material and promising filter medium for onsite water treatment using adsorption as one of the most effective techniques with low-cost and simple operation.