Petroleomic analysis of the treatment of naphthenic organics in oil sands process-affected water with buoyant photocatalysts

• Published in: Water research (Oxford) Vol. 141; pp. 297 - 306
• Main Authors: Leshuk, Tim, Peru, Kerry M., de Oliveira Livera, Diogo, Tripp, Austin, Bardo, Patrick, Headley, John V., Gu, Frank
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.09.2018
• Subjects: Advanced oxidation process; Floating; Industrial Waste; Mass Spectrometry; Naphthenic acid; Oil and Gas Fields; Organic Chemicals - chemistry; Organic Chemicals - radiation effects; Oxidation-Reduction; Passive; Petroleum; Photolysis; Positive ion; Titanium dioxide; Waste Water; Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry; Water Pollutants, Chemical - radiation effects; Naphthenic acid; Passive; Floating; Titanium dioxide; Positive ion; Advanced oxidation process
• ISSN: 0043-1354; 1879-2448
• DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.05.011

The persistence of toxicity associated with the soluble naphthenic organic compounds (NOCs) of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) implies that a treatment solution may be necessary to enable safe return of this water to the environment. Due to recent advances in high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), the majority of the toxicity of OSPW is currently understood to derive from a subset of toxic classes, comprising only a minority of the total NOCs. Herein, oxidative treatment of OSPW with buoyant photocatalysts was evaluated under a petroleomics paradigm: chemical changes across acid-, base- and neutral-extractable organic fractions were tracked throughout the treatment with both positive and negative ion mode electrospray ionization (ESI) Orbitrap MS. Elimination of detected OS+ and NO+ classes of concern in the earliest stages of the treatment, along with preferential degradation of high carbon-numbered O2− acids, suggest that photocatalysis may detoxify OSPW with higher efficiency than previously thought. Application of petroleomic level analysis offers unprecedented insights into the treatment of petroleum impacted water, allowing reaction trends to be followed across multiple fractions and thousands of compounds simultaneously. [Display omitted] •Oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) is impacted by naphthenic organic compounds (NOCs).•Majority of OSPW toxicity attributed to only a subset of NOC classes.•Passive treatment of OSPW demonstrated with buoyant photocatalysts.•First time petroleomics used to study treatment kinetics across NOC fractions.•Preferential degradation of priority O2−, OS+ and NO+ NOC classes of concern.