Experimental study on filtration effect of oilfield sewage based on new polyurethane modified materials

Abstract In the process of oilfield wastewater treatment, the polymer-modified materials with special wettability have been recognized by many scholars for their high filtration efficiency and good adsorption effect. In this paper, we used micro-computed tomography scanning and infrared scanning technology to further explore the internal structure and surface chemistry of polyurethane modified materials and then established an experimental platform for the filtration performance of polyurethane modified materials. The change of suspended solids concentration and oil content in the sewage was tested under different filtration rate, filter layer thickness, and water quality. The results showed that the porosity of the filter material and the oil-absorbing material was 65.85% and 56.03% respectively, and the difference in the number of oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface of these two materials indicated different adsorption force for sewage impurities. And the polyurethane modified materials had good filtration performance. Through these experiments, we demonstrated that the quality of water filtrated by the polyurethane modified materials met the requirements of the ‘National Comprehensive Wastewater Discharge Standards’, and the filtration efficiency for suspended particles and oils in oily sewage was higher than 80%. These materials have important practical significance for the harmless treatment of oily sewage.