APPLICATION OF THE TECHNIQUE OF ELECTROFLOCCULATION USING ALTERNATE CURRENT IN TREATMENT OF WATER PRODUCTION FROM OIL INDUSTRY

This work is related to the electroflocculation process applied to the treatment of the production water, which is the main waste generated during the process of exploration and production of oil. This wastewater is contains toxic chemicals, inorganic salts and heavy metals, which hinders its treatment and final disposal. Lately, this water is being re-injected into the production wells to increase the pressure, but its quality is not adequate. For the treatment of this effluent various technologies have been proposed, and the aim of this paper is to study the feasibility of application of the electroflocculation using alternate current variable frequency in the treatment of a simulated wastewater. The equipment used both direct and variable frequency alternate current. Aluminium was the material as the electrodes, and all runs were carried in a batch system. The analysis related to the characterization of the raw and electroflocculated wastewater were: oil and grease, turbidity, color, pH and conductivity. The results showed that it was possible to obtain removal efficiencies of oils and greases, color and turbidity above 98%.