Cross-flow microfiltration of synthetic oily wastewater using multi-channel ceramic membrane

Produced water is water formed in underground formations and is brought up to the surface along with crude oil during production. It comprises mainly dispersed oil, organic compounds, and suspended solids. The most popular preference to deal with produced water is to re-inject it back into the formation. Produced water re-injection (PWRI) needs a modified treatment such as separation units to eliminate oil and suspended solids before re-injection for pressure build up. De-oiling treatment normally consists of gravity or corrugated plate separator and a gas flotation unit. However, gravity separation is not successful with emulsified oil droplets smaller than 20 µm. The reason is that as the oil droplets size reduces, the essential retention time to obtain acceptable separator efficiency increases considerably.