Methods and compositions for removing contaminants from wastewater streams

Abstract

A chemically modified polysaccharide additive may be introduced to a wastewater stream in an effective amount to remove oil-coated particulates and/or heavy metal contaminants from the wastewater stream. The chemically modified polysaccharide includes at least one sulfur-containing moiety and/or nitrogen-containing moiety and the contaminants may be removed by using this chemically modified polysaccharide to capture the contaminants and separating out the captured contaminants.

Claims

1. A method for removing at least a portion of contaminants from a wastewater stream containing contaminants, the method comprising: adding an effective amount of a chemically modified polysaccharide to the wastewater stream to remove at least a portion of contaminants from the wastewater stream to produce a treated wastewater stream, wherein the chemically modified polysaccharide contains at least one sulfur-containing moiety selected from a group consisting of thiocarbamate, dithiocarbamate, thionocarbonate, dithiocarbonate, thiadiazole, and combinations thereof, the polysaccharide modified to contain a single type of moiety: a sulfur-containing moiety.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sulfur-containing containing moiety is chemically added to the polysaccharide by a process selected from the group consisting of sulfurization, thiolation, and combinations of these processes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the polysaccharide is selected from a group consisting of starch, cellulose, chitin, chitosan, dextran, xylan, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the contaminants comprise oil-coated solid particulates and heavy metals.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the heavy metals are selected from a group consisting of mercury, selenium, copper, zinc, arsenic, lead, nickel, chromium, iron, cobalt, cadmium, and combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the wastewater stream is wastewater discharged from an oil or gas refinery.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the wastewater stream is a wastewater stream entering into a tertiary treatment stage of a water treatment plant.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the amount of oil-coated solid particulates present in the wastewater stream is 0.01 ppm to 100000 ppm and the amount of heavy metals present in the wastewater stream is 0.01 ppb to 1000 ppm.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the effective amount of chemically modified polysaccharide added to the wastewater stream ranges from about 10 ppb to about 10000 ppm.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises using the chemically modified polysaccharide to capture the contaminants and the method further comprises separating out the captured contaminants by precipitation.

11. A treated wastewater stream comprising: a wastewater stream containing comprising contaminants comprising oil-coated solid particulates, and heavy metals; and an additive comprising from about 10 ppb to about 10000 ppm of a chemically modified polysaccharide, wherein the chemically modified polysaccharide contains at least one sulfur-containing moiety selected from a group consisting of thiocarbamate, dithiocarbamate, thionocarbonate, dithiocarbonate, thiadiazole, and combinations thereof, the polysaccharide modified to contain a single type of moiety: a sulfur-containing moiety.

12. The treated wastewater stream of claim 11, wherein the at least one sulfur-containing moiety is chemically added to the polysaccharide by a process selected from the group consisting of sulfurization, thiolation, and combinations of these processes.

13. The treated wastewater stream of claim 11, wherein the polysaccharide is selected from a group consisting of starch, cellulose, chitin, chitosan, dextran, xylan, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof.

14. The treated wastewater stream of claim 11, wherein the heavy metals are selected from a group consisting of mercury, selenium, copper, zinc, arsenic, lead, nickel, chromium, iron, cobalt, cadmium, and combinations thereof.

15. The treated wastewater stream of claim 11, wherein the wastewater stream is wastewater discharged from an oil or gas refinery.

16. The treated wastewater stream of claim 12, wherein the wastewater stream is a wastewater stream entering into a tertiary treatment stage of a water treatment plant.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(1) It has been discovered that adding an effective amount of polysaccharide that is chemically modified to add at least one sulfur- and/or nitrogen-containing moiety is useful or effective for removing both oil-coated solid particulates and heavy metals from industrial wastewater streams to produce a treated stream that may meet the environmental standards for discharge to environment or reuse.

(2) In one embodiment, the chemically modified polysaccharide useful for contaminant removal may be produced by adding sulfur-containing functional groups and nitrogen-containing functional groups on a polysaccharide, such as starch, cellulose, dextran, xylan, chitin, and/or chitosan, and their derivatives, by chemical reactions.

(3) In a non-limiting embodiment, this chemical modification is achieved by sulfurization, imidazolation, azolation, thiolation, and/or aminolysis. More specifically, the chemically modified polysaccharide may be created by chemically bonding at least two side groups containing sulfur or nitrogen on the sides of the polymer chain via reaction with substances such as carbon disulfide (CS.sub.2), sulfur dioxide (SO.sub.2), elemental sulfur, organic thiol compounds (such as methanethiol, ethanethiol), and/or alkyl amines.

(4) Non-limiting examples of sulfur- and/or nitrogen-containing moieties (or functional groups) that may be added to the polysaccharide to form the resulting chemically modified polysaccharide are thiocarbamate, dithiocarbamate, thionocarbonate, dithiocarbonate, thiadiazole, and/or imidazole. The chemically modified polysaccharide may contain a single type of moiety or a combination of these side groups, that is, a single polysaccharide may be modified to contain at least one sulfur-containing side group and at least one nitrogen-containing side group.

(5) The wastewater stream to be treated may be any wastewater stream produced by an industrial process. In one particular non-limiting embodiment, the wastewater stream that is treated with the chemically modified polysaccharide may be wastewater discharged from an oil or gas refinery. In a further non-restrictive embodiment, the wastewater stream is a wastewater stream entering into a tertiary treatment stage of a water treatment plant, also known as the “polishing” stage.

(6) The contaminants to be removed from the wastewater stream may be or include oil-coated solid particulate and heavy metals inorganic solids, such as but not limited to, mercury, selenium, copper, zinc, arsenic, lead, nickel, chromium, iron, cobalt, cadmium, and combinations thereof.

(7) The amount of oil-coated solid contaminants present in the wastewater stream to be treated with the chemically modified polysaccharide may be, in one embodiment, about 0.01 ppm independently to about 100,000 ppm independently, or about 0.1 ppm independently to about 10,000 ppm independently. The amount of the heavy metal contaminants present in the wastewater stream to be treated with the chemically modified polysaccharide may be, in one embodiment, about 0.01 ppb independently to about 1000 ppm independently, or about 0.1 ppb independently to about 100 ppm independently. A goal of the method is to reduce the amount of contaminant to an acceptable level for the wastewater stream to be discharged to the environment or reused. Said differently, complete removal (via capture and separation, for example) of the contaminants from the wastewater stream is desirable, but it should be appreciated that complete removal is not necessary for the methods discussed herein to be considered effective. Success is obtained if more contaminants are removed from the wastewater stream using the chemically modified polysaccharide than in the absence of an effective amount of the chemically modified polysaccharide. In an exemplary embodiment, the effective amount of chemically modified polysaccharide for purposes of removing the contaminants from the wastewater stream, as these terms are defined herein, ranges from about 10 ppb independently to about 10000 ppm independently, alternatively from about 100 ppb independently to about 100 ppm independently. The term “independently” as used herein with respect to a range means that any threshold may be used together with any other threshold to form an acceptable alternative range.

(8) In a non-limiting embodiment, the removal of the contaminants may be accomplished by using the chemically modified polysaccharide to capture the contaminants and separating out the captured contaminants by precipitation, floatation, and/or by filtration or skimming.

(9) In another non-limiting embodiment, other additives may be added to the wastewater stream for treatment including, but not necessarily limited to, coagulant, flocculent, and mixtures thereof.

(10) In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, and has been described as effective in providing methods and treatments for removing contaminants from a wastewater stream. However, it will be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Accordingly, the specification is to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. For example, wastewater streams, polysaccharides, sulfur- and/or nitrogen-containing functional groups/moieties, contaminants, chemical reaction mechanisms, and removal processes falling within the claimed parameters, but not specifically identified or tried in a particular composition or method, are expected to be within the scope of this invention.

(11) The present invention may suitably comprise, consist or consist essentially of the elements disclosed and may be practiced in the absence of an element not disclosed. For instance, the method may consist of or consist essentially of adding an effective amount of polysaccharide that is chemically modified to have at least one sulfur- and/or nitrogen-containing moiety in an amount effective to remove at least a portion of the contaminants from industrial wastewater streams to produce a treated stream.

(12) Alternatively, the treated fluid may comprise a wastewater stream containing oil-coated solid particulates and heavy metals; and an additive consisting of or consisting essentially of from about 10 ppb to about 10000 ppm of a chemically modified polysaccharide, wherein the chemically modified polysaccharide contains at least one sulfur- and/or nitrogen-containing moiety.

(13) The words “comprising” and “comprises” as used throughout the claims, are to be interpreted to mean “including but not limited to” and “includes but not limited to”, respectively.

(14) As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(15) As used herein, the term “about” in reference to a given parameter is inclusive of the stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., it includes the degree of error associated with measurement of the given parameter).

(16) As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.