Researchers have developed a process to remove contaminants from oil sands wastewater using only sunlight and nanoparticles that is more effective and inexpensive than conventional treatment methods.
Frank Gu, a professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo and Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology Engineering, is the senior researcher on the team that was the first to find that photocatalysis — a chemical reaction that involves the absorption of light by nanoparticles — can completely eliminate naphthenic acids in oil sands wastewater, and within hours. Naphthenic acids pose a threat to ecology and human health. Water in tailing ponds left to biodegrade naturally in the environment still contains these contaminants decades later.
“With about a billion tonnes of water stored in ponds in Alberta, removing naphthenic acids is one of the largest environmental challenges in Canada,” said Tim Leshuk, a PhD candidate in chemical engineering at Waterloo. He is the lead author of this paper and a recipient of the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. “Conventional treatments people have tried either haven’t worked, or if they have worked, they’ve been far too impractical or expensive to solve the size of the problem. Waterloo’s technology is the first step of what looks like a very practical and green treatment method.”
Unlike treating polluted water with chlorine or membrane filtering, the Waterloo technology is energy-efficient and relatively inexpensive. Nanoparticles become extremely reactive when exposed to sunlight and break down the persistent pollutants in their individual atoms, completely removing them from the water. This treatment depends on only sunlight for energy, and the nanoparticles can be recovered and reused indefinitely.
Next steps for the Waterloo research include ensuring that the treated water meets all of the objectives Canadian environmental legislation and regulations required to ensure it can be safely discharged from sources larger than the samples, such as tailing ponds.
Read more: Researchers find new, inexpensive way to clean water from oil sands production
The Latest on: Oil sands
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Oil sands” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Oil sands
- Quebecers overwhelmingly support emissions cap for oil companies: surveyon September 28, 2023 at 6:46 am
Almost nine out of 10 Quebecers think oil and gas industries should be required to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to a new Léger poll released ahead of pending federal ...
- The Imperial Oil Enigma: Are We Missing the True Valuation Story?on September 28, 2023 at 5:06 am
Crude Oil WTI Futures, ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil, ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil, ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Crude Oil. Read Equisights's latest article on Investing.com Canada.
- Newfoundland asks oil sands workers to return home from Alberta with the lure of new jobson September 28, 2023 at 4:00 am
Newfoundland has steadily lost more people to other provinces than it has gained over the last several decades, according to the Conference Board of Canada ...
- 7 High-Yield Energy Stocks to Buy as Oil Prices Riseon September 25, 2023 at 6:13 pm
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Energy stocks are getting stronger as oil prices gush higher.
- Canada oil sands carbon capture project cannot proceed until prices locked in -execon September 22, 2023 at 11:07 am
Pathways, a consortium of the six biggest oil sands companies, plans to build a CCS hub to store emissions from 14 projects in northern Alberta's oil sands by 2030. Ottawa has promised a 50% ...
- Nuclear energy on the agenda in Canada for oil sands operationson September 21, 2023 at 11:47 am
Canadian oil and gas giant Cenovus Energy will receive funding support to study whether small modular nuclear reactors could be deployed on the company's oil sands operations in the province of ...
- Canada oil sands carbon capture project cannot proceed until prices locked in -execon September 20, 2023 at 4:16 pm
Pathways, a consortium of the six biggest oil sands companies, plans to build a CCS hub to store emissions from 14 projects in northern Alberta's oil sands by 2030. Ottawa has promised a 50% ...
- Canada oil sands carbon capture project cannot proceed until prices locked in -execon September 20, 2023 at 2:16 pm
Pathways, a consortium of the six biggest oil sands companies, plans to build a CCS hub to store emissions from 14 projects in northern Alberta's oil sands by 2030. Ottawa has promised a 50% ...
- Oil Sands Market Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis | Market Challenges and Forecast till 2030 | with 104 Pageson September 20, 2023 at 7:38 am
Recent research on the "Oil Sands Market" offers a thorough analysis of market growth prospects as well as current kinds [Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD ...
- Calgary gives Big Oil another chance to show credible path to decarbonisationon September 20, 2023 at 4:36 am
Attention on energy transition at the Congress in Calgary is centred on the Pathways Alliance, a group of leading Canadian oil sands producers determined to meet net zero emissions by 2050 through ...
via Bing News