Selenium removal process
AssigneeConocoPhillips Company
InventorsMarvin Johnson, Charles J. Lord, III, Larry E. Reed, Kenneth C. McCarley, Glenn W. Dodwell, Tin Tack Peter Cheung, John Cruze, Richard Anderson
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Abstract
A process for removing selenium from an aqueous stream using a supported sulfur material, and optionally the addition of an activating agent for enhanced removal of selenite, is disclosed.
Claims22
A process comprising contacting a feed stream comprising water and at least about 1000 ppb of a selenium compound including selenite with a composition consisting essentially of sulfur and a porous support selected from the group consisting of alumina and carbon for removal of at least a portion of said selenium compound from said feed stream thereby forming a treated stream comprising less selenium than said feed stream;
- wherein said feed stream is contacted with a sufficient quantity of said composition such that said treated stream contains less than or equal to about 30 wt. % of the selenium contained in said feed stream, on an elemental selenium basis, and said contacting of said feed stream with said composition is at a pH between about 1 to about 8.5, and is in the presence of an activating agent selected from the group consisting of ammonium sulfite, sodium sulfite, potassium sulfite, H2SO3, sulfur dioxide, and combinations thereof.
A process comprising contacting a feed stream comprising water and at least about 1000 ppb of a selenium compound including selenocyanate with a composition consisting essentially of sulfur and a porous support selected from the group consisting of alumina and carbon for removal of at least a portion of said selenium compound from said feed stream thereby forming a treated stream comprising less selenium than said feed stream;
- wherein said feed stream is contacted with a sufficient quantity of said composition such that said treated stream contains less than or equal to about 30 wt. % of the selenium contained in said feed stream, on an elemental selenium basis, and said contacting of said feed stream with said composition is at a pH between about 1 to about 8.5.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.