Photocatalytic treatment of diverse contaminants of potential concern in oil sands process-affected water.

Oil sands process-affected water (OSPW), generated by surface mining in Canada's oil sands, require treatment of environmentally persistent dissolved organic compounds before release to the watershed. Conventional chemical and mechanical treatments have not proved suitable for treating the large quantities of stored OSPW, and the biological recalcitrance of some dissolved organics may not be adequately addressed by conventional passive treatment systems. Previous work has evaluated photocatalytic treatment as a passive advanced oxidation process (P-AOP) for OSPW remediation.

A Light Touch: Solar Photocatalysis Detoxifies Oil Sands Process-Affected Waters Prior to Significant Treatment of Naphthenic Acids.

Environmental reclamation of Canada's oil sands tailings ponds is among the single largest water treatment challenges globally. The toxicity of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) has been associated with its dissolved organics, a complex mixture of naphthenic acid fraction components (NAFCs). Here, we evaluated solar treatment with buoyant photocatalysts (BPCs) as a passive advanced oxidation process (P-AOP) for OSPW remediation.