Several oil and gas wastewater (OGW) treatment technologies have been developed and used based on thermal methods, membrane methods and electrochemical methods. There is a crucial need to develop a cost-effective, sustainable and environmentally friendly OGW treatment technologies to be overcome high energy consumption, membrane fouling, secondary pollution and high expense for operation and maintenance associated with existing technologies. Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) configured as a microbial capacitive deionization cell (MCDC) has emerged as a promising technology to simultaneously treat OGW, desalinate saline water, and produce renewable energy such as electricity or hydrogen gas. It is critical to understand the mechanisms of biofilm development on electrodes to reduce their adverse impact on capacitive deionization processes such as non-faradaic (ion electrosorption) and faradaic (oxidation−reduction) in a batch-mode of MCDC system. 

The goal of this study is to evaluate the impedance spectra of MCDCs in detail describing the kinetics in double-layer charging/discharging processes. To the best of our knowledge, we present a first study to investigate impedance in the batch-mode biotic (halophilic) MCDC system at the open circuit potential. This study indicates that charge transfer resistance dominated the overall impedance in the MCDCs fed with the OGW. The MCDC achieved chemical oxygen demand COD removal of 80% using microbial population that was enriched in halophilic conditions.

Electrochemical Impedance Analysis of Microbially Assisted Capacitive Deionization of Oil and Gas Wastewater

Created in 1999, the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) is the recognized leader within ASCE for the integration of technical expertise and public policy in the planning, design, construction, and operation of environmentally sound and sustainable infrastructure impacting air, land and water resources.

[Paper Proceedings](https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483466)

Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.26226/m.6329c39b68fb0e00131f77d2