Patent ID: 8097163
Filing Date: 2012-01-17
Classification: B01D,C02F

Abstract:
1. A method of processing production water recovered from a geological formation to provide permeate water for a beneficial use, the method comprising: stripping volatile organic compounds from the production water via aeration to produce aerated production water, wherein the stripping causes paraffins and asphaltenes to come out of solution in the aerated production water; removing the paraffins and asphaltenes from the aerated production water to produce filtered production water; precipitating heavy metals and emulsified oils from the filtered production water using coagulation to produce pretreated production water; and subjecting the pretreated production water to filtration using a ceramic microfilter to produce the permeate water that is sufficiently purified for beneficial use, wherein the ceramic microfilter having 0.05-5 micron pore size and a zirconia coating of 0.01 micron pore size.