Patent ID: 6071413
Filing Date: 2000-06-06
Classification: B01D,C02F,Y10S

Abstract:
A process for treating phenolic stripped sour water containing soluble and insoluble organic and inorganic contaminants including selenium and divalent and trivalent metal cations to reduce the concentration of selenium therein which comprises:a) passing the phenolic stripped sour water through a cooling system to decrease the temperature of the phenolic stripped sour water and provide a cooled phenolic stripped sour water;b) passing the cooled phenolic stripped sour water through an air flotation system to remove insoluble contaminants present therein not greater than about 1.0 micron in size and provide a flotation stripped sour water;c) passing the flotation stripped sour water through a sand filtration system to remove any remaining insoluble contaminants present therein greater than about 1.0 micron in size and provide a filtered sour water;d) subjecting the filtered sour water to a first pH adjustment to stabilize the solubility of the soluble organic contaminants and provide a pH adjusted sour water;e) passing the pH adjusted sour water through a softener to remove divalent and trivalent metal cations present therein and provide a reverse osmosis sour water;f) subjecting the reverse osmosis sour water to a second pH adjustment to restabilize the solubility of the soluble organic contaminants and provide a pH adjusted reverse osmosis sour water; and,g) passing the pH adjusted reverse osmosis sour water into contact with the high pressure side of a reverse osmosis membrane to remove selenium present therein and recover from the low pressure side of the reverse osmosis membrane a reverse osmosis permeate having a reduced concentration of selenium.