By: Inspenet, November 3, 2022
According to a note from the news agency of the National University of Colombia, researcher Andrea Cubillos, a student in the Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering at Alma Mater, developed a process to reuse wastewater from the oil industry.
According to the published note, the oil industry generates about 10 million barrels of wastewater per year. Of this water, less than 1% is reused in other activities. “This water would serve both in oil processes and in agriculture, one of the sectors that most needs this resource, which uses about 43% of the country’s total,” they indicate in the communication medium.
Cubillos’ research found that, through the electrocoagulation method, it is possible to eliminate more than 99% of the oils and fats found in wastewater from oil wells and other industrial activities. The technique, according to the Agency, is easy to use and does not produce odors.
Electrocoagulation is a process that applies electric current in the water through metal plates (iron, aluminum and stainless steel, among others) to destabilize the particles that contaminate it, whether they are suspended, emulsified or dissolved, explains the work ‘ Use of electrocoagulation for the removal of tartrazine in aqueous solutions’, by Álvaro Arango Ruíz.
The presence of oils and fats in water is a global pollution problem, as it is destroying various tributaries and represents a risk to human health and that of thousands of species that inhabit various ecosystems.
Cubillos found that the time during which electrocoagulation and current are applied affects the level of efficiency in the removal of contaminating particles.
the contaminating matter was joining as an effect of the electrical charge received by the aqueous medium.
This material from the mascolombia.com portal was edited for clarity, style and length.
Photo: ShutterStock
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