Characterization of residual organic matter in oil sands steam assisted gravity drainage produced water treated by ceramic nanofiltration membranes

Abstract Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is an energy and water intensive oil recovery technology for in-situ extraction of oil sands bitumen. It is essential to recycle the SAGD produced water (PW) to reduce water consumption and improve the energy efficiency of the process. This work investigated the removal of residual organic matter (ROM) in the SAGD-PW by the ceramic nanofiltration (NF) membrane process. The overall removal efficiency of ROM in the SAGD-PW was influenced by their polarities, membrane pore size, and membrane material. Non-polar oil components including saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons were completely removed; meanwhile, approximately 80% of polar components were removed by the membrane nanofiltration. Membrane nanofiltration significantly altered the chemical composition of the SAGD-PW by removing 95.0–98.3% of total solvent extracted material (TSEM). The chemical fingerprints of the solvent extracted materials in the feed and permeate samples were characterized. The profile of polar components such as naphthenic acids (NAs) in the permeate samples is significantly different from that in the feed samples.