A Review on Adsorption Process for the Treatment of Oily Wastewater

Abstract

Oil-contaminated or oily wastewater (OW) is generated from various industrial and domestic premises. It consists of fats, oils, and greases and may contain petroleum fractions such as diesel oil, gasoline, and kerosene. It is regarded as one of the most hazardous wastewaters, causing serious environmental and health threats to ecosystems and human beings. The global increase in the discharge of OW coupled with stringent regulations for effluent discharge and incessant drive for the reuse of treated wastewater necessitate the need for the treatment of the OW. Conventional approaches employed in the past are inept for OW treatment due to low separation efficiency, high operational cost, creating secondary pollution, and long treatment hours. Comparatively, the adsorption process is considered a better alternative because of its simple design and can involve low investment in terms of both initial cost and land required. Thus, the adsorption process is widely applied as a promising alternative to existing treatment methods for OW. The adsorption process is an effective technique for OW treatment. Super adsorbents with ultrahigh adsorption capabilities are highly desired for efficient OW treatment in a new revolution of adsorption technology to meet present and future needs. This review provides insights into advanced and emerging state-of-the-art technologies of the adsorption process as a safe and efficient treatment of OW. Strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis was conducted to identify and analyze internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats that shape the current and future operation of the adsorption process for the treatment of oily wastewater for developing strategic goals. Super adsorbents with ultrahigh adsorption capability such as P-GSC and P-PKS discussed are highly desired. The extraordinary properties of P-GSC and P-PKS can provide leap-forward opportunities to revolutionize traditional adsorption technology. However, scale-bridging and optimization study of these innovated super adsorbents is required for the real application. It shows a bright future of P-GSC and P-PKS towards OW treatment.