Cleaning Oil Sand Wastewater with Sunlight

Nov-24-15 A new method of cleaning the wastewater from oil sand production is both less expensive and more affordable than current methods.

Extracting the oil from tar sands is extremely water intensive, and results in polluted water that is difficult to clean and recycle. To simplify the process, a team from the University of Waterloo created a photocatalysis-based process that uses UV light to produce free radicals able to destroy unwanted organisms and degrade the dangerous napthenic acids. In tests in oil sand wastewater samples, the process broke down the toxic compounds within hours. As an added bonus, the process is powered by sunlight, and the nanoparticles can be harvested to be used again.

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[GIZMAG.COM]
[UNWATERLOO.COM]

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