Model development for naphthenic acids ozonation process.

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are toxic constituents of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) which is generated during the extraction of bitumen from oil sands. NAs consist mainly of carboxylic acids which are generally biorefractory. For the treatment of OSPW, ozonation is a very beneficial method. It can significantly reduce the concentration of NAs and it can also convert NAs from biorefractory to biodegradable. In this study, a factorial design (2(4)) was used for the ozonation of OSPW to study the influences of the operating parameters (ozone concentration, oxygen/ozone flow rate, pH, and mixing) on the removal of a model NAs in a semi-batch reactor. It was found that ozone concentration had the most significant effect on the NAs concentration compared to other parameters. An empirical model was developed to correlate the concentration of NAs with ozone concentration, oxygen/ozone flow rate, and pH. In addition, a theoretical analysis was conducted to gain the insight into the relationship between the removal of NAs and the operating parameters.