Summary
Freshwater supplies are under pressure due to scarcity and increasing energy production. Oil and gas extraction and related industries produce large amounts of oily wastewater. This water is often treated as waste instead of being cleaned and reused. Membrane filtration technologies, such as ultrafiltration (UF), offer a promising way to recover this water. However, oil fouling limits the effectiveness of these technologies. Oil droplets accumulate on the membrane surface and block water flow, which lowers treatment efficiency. Chemical demulsifiers are commonly used to treat oil–water mixture
