Method of purifying Fischer-Tropsch derived water

摘要

A process for the production of purified water 40 from Fischer-Tropsch reaction water 12 includes the steps of a primary treatment stage comprising an equilibrium staged separation process, such as distillation 14 for removing a fraction of non-acid oxygenated hydrocarbons from the reaction water to produce a primary enriched water stream. A secondary treatment stage comprising evaporation 20 of at least a portion of the primary enriched water stream thereby reducing the total mass fraction of organic constituents in the unevaporated portion. The water may also be processed by further treatments. These may include a biological treatment phase 24, which is preferably aerobic, a solid-liquid separation phase 32, and a stage to remove dissolved salts and organics, possibly by membrane separation 38.