Cleaning up Oil Sands Tailings to Become Greener
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
Civil Engineering Scholars Have Created a Method that Uses Solar Energy to Accelerate Pond Reclamation Efforts by Industry
Instead of using UV lamps as a light source to treat oil sands process affected water (OSPW) retained in tailings ponds,University of Alberta
professors Mohamed Gamal El-Din and James Bolton have found that using the sunlight as a renewable energy source treats the wastewater just as efficiently but at a much lower cost.
Oilsands tailings ponds contain a mixture of suspended solids, salts, and other dissolvable compounds like benzene, acids, and hydrocarbons. Typically, these tailings ponds take 20 plus years before they can be reclaimed.
University of Alberta civil engineering graduate student Zengquan Shu simulates the solar UV/chlorine treatment process. Laboratory-scale tests found the solar UV/chlorine treatment process removed 75 to 84 per cent of the toxins found in oil sands process affected water. Credit: University of Alberta Civil and Environmental Engineering
"We know it works, so now the challenge is to transfer it into the field," says Gamal El-Din, who also worked on the project with graduate students Zengquan Shu, Chao Li, post doctorate fellow Arvinder Singh and biological sciences professor Miodrag Belosevic. "This alternative process not only addresses the need for managing these tailings ponds, but it may further be applied to treat municipal wastewater as well. Being a solar-driven process, the cost would be minimal compared to what's being used in the field now."
The solar UV/chlorine treatment process when applied to the tailings ponds would make OSPW decontamination and detoxification immediate.
The sun's energy will partially remove these organic contaminants due to the direct sunlight. But, when the sunlight reacts with the chlorine (or bleach) added to the wastewater, it produces hydroxyl radicals (powerful oxidative reagents) that remove the remaining toxins more efficiently. The chlorine leaves no residuals as the sunlight causes it to decompose.
In laboratory-scale tests the solar UV/chlorine treatment process was found to remove 75 to 84 per cent of these toxins.
Read More Related Content On This Topic - Click Here
Media
Taxonomy
- Technology
- Research
- Solar Energy