Integrated and hybrid processes for oily wastewater treatment

Industrial oily wastewater has proven to be a recalcitrant to conventional treatments. Due to the complexity and variety of contaminants, hybridization in oily wastewater treatment has been a prominent and active area of research for the past few years. The concept lies in finding synergistic effects among combined technologies to reduce the deficiencies of individual technologies while maximizing positive interactions that might exist. Such solutions can take the form of a one-pot unit, compact pretreatment, or posttreatment systems. Membrane technologies and electrochemical processes constitute the main elements of many advanced hybrid systems for the treatment of oily wastewater, especially in the oil and gas industry. Other technologies include advanced oxidation processes and biological treatments, in which many of them are intrinsically used in an integrated fashion to boost removal efficiencies and reduce the total power consumption and carbon footprint. This chapter discusses the basics of advanced treatments that are used in integrated and hybrid treatment systems along with the latest improvements and innovation in the field, including pilot-scale integrated treatment systems.