Treatment of oily and salty mining water by ceramic nanofiltration membranes

Ceramic nanofiltration membranes were successfully tested and piloted for the treatment of oily and salty water from oil sand mining in Alberta, Canada. The membranes showed a stable behavior over two years operation. The complete removal of suspended solids as well as the reduction of multivalent ions enable the use of recycle water from tailing ponds to prepare boiler feed water. In high salt concentration like waste water from potash mining a dependency of salt retention on the salt composition and concentration was observed. High MgSO4 retention even at high salt concentration was achieved.