Membrane Applications for Petrochemical and Oil Refining Facilities: An Update

This paper presents a history of membrane applications in petroleum processing facilities and updates the list of reported worldwide membrane installations for effluent treatment and reuse. These installations include membrane bioreactors (MBR), tertiary MF/UF, with or without RO. Several case studies described the impetus for reuse, water quality evaluation, treatment performance, and lessons learned. Problems encountered using membranes for the petro industries and process flow sheets (pretreatment) to deal with specific fouling contaminants are discussed. Specific fouling concerns include oil and grease, organics, and metals.