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The chemical industry is a keystone of the U.S. economy, converting raw
materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, minerals) into more than 70,000
different products and account for 24 % of the world's production. Foreign sales
account for approximately 50% of total production. Many Chemical Plants have numerous side streams that can be isolated and used elsewhere. Some examples are waste streams that are high in pH, ammonia or phosphate that can be used by other waste treatment plants for very low costs, usually cheaper than the cost to treat it and dispose of. An orange juice plant used the peel oil for food additives. Low grade waste oil could be used in odor control technology or in some essential oils for fragrances that do not require the high levels of purity for human consumption.
Reduced Waste Treatment Costs Reduced off site treatment or disposal costs Reduced Capital and Operating Costs Reduced Manufacturing costs due to higher yield Reduced Environmental Compliance Costs ( fines or shutdowns) Income or savings from sale or reuse of waste by-product streams or solids The U.S. Chemical industry is the world's largest, accounting for 25% of world chemical production and 25% of all U.S. manufacturing energy use Solids Handling Alternatives- Biosolids Land Application as opposed to Landfills Beneficial Reuse- A new way to optimize your plant
The Chemicals Industry uses 4.3 quadrillion Btu of energy annually. Steam accounts for approximately 52% of the chemical industry's energy costs, while an additional 20% goes towards compressed air. Boiler and Cooling Tower Blowdown Cooling Tower Microscopic analyses
Ashing on clarifier can significantly contribute to BOD and TSS problems. Check your clarifier beds. The solids are probably being held too long in your clarifier if you start to see scum build-up, ashing, floating solids or are having TSS problems. Secondary Clarifiers Clarifier Optimization
Secondary Clarifiers Solids Carryover Duckweed in centerwell
Some plants have too many amines in the influent and need to nitrify. Some
plants have no ammonia or amines and have to add nitrogen as a nutrient for the
bacteria. Nutrient control at petrochemical plants can be an issue, depending
upon which side you are dealing with. Both need monitor and control for proper
biological activity and final effluent BOD and TSS controls along side of
nutrient Why you should do a Total Nitrogen Balance Oh no, my nitrifiers are dead and I am not getting nitrification! Many refineries and petrochemical plants have large storage tanks that they bleed into their secondary biological system. If wastewater is held too long in these tanks, it can become septic and impact the efficiency of the secondary biological system. Sometimes, something as simple as adding a small mixer or recirculation pump can help with septicity problems and filamentous bacteria growth. Equalization
tanks and Wetwells
Temperature can be sometimes be an issue. Influent temperatures over 95° F or 100° F can impact floc formation in the secondary biological system. While many plants can get BOD degradation up to 115° F or 120° F if consistent, floc formation is small, pin floc persists and the system may require polymer addition in the secondary clarifier or TSS problems will occur. Influent chemistries may be composed of hard to degrade organics. Influent wastes may contain aliphatic hydrocarbons, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile aromatic carbon compounds. sometimes the systems need to be enhanced with biological products to efficiently degrade such compounds as benzenes, phenols, hydrocarbons, mercaptans, amines, organic alcohols, many chlorinated and non-chlorinated hydrocarbons, surfactants and other difficult to treat compounds. Micronutrients or biological products can often times overcome difficulties that petrochemical plants have with changing influents and hard to degrade compounds. These products can also be used for onsite tank remediation to save thousands of dollars for the company by using bacteria to naturally clean up these tanks.
Bioaugmentation can help with the constant swings in a chemical plant and help make it easier to run the biological wastewater treatment plant.
Many times a bad batch is made or off spec product is developed and sent to the waste treatment plant. Some plants isolate these in tanks or have them hauled off as Hazardous waste. Batch treatment in those tanks can be done with bioaugmentation so that the waste can be sent to the onsite wastewater treatment plant after initial treatment and safely treated instead of enormous amounts of dollars spent on hazardous waste treatment or upsets to the normal treatment plant.
Many plants have spent caustic or Acid. Did you know a papermill could possibly use the acid to raise lower their pH into their influent and save them some money as well as allow their treatment plant to work more efficiently? A steel mill might have spent fluids that could be used for pH adjustment. We worked with one chemical plant that spent millions of dollars to lime
neutralize the acid stream. We discussed options to take that acid stream out of
the normal wastewater flow and be used elsewhere, thereby saving treatment
costs, landfill costs, maintenance costs, etc. upwa
Pulling a plant apart and looking at all the streams that contribute to waste generation are part of a total system audit. Everything is looked at to see if a stream can be pre-treated cheaper as a side stream or better yet, sold off as a "beneficial re-use" by product.
Chemical plants routinely have problems with filamentous Electricity is usually the number one cost at many wastewater treatment
plants, but solids handling is second. Reducing the amount of solids that need
to be dewatered, and hauled off can significantly reduce operating costs. Chemical plants sometimes have hard to treat organics that they send down to the wastewater treatment plant. Learn how a biological program or micronutrients can help you plant meet tighter permit restrictions in a more efficient way. MicroSolv 400 Bacteria formulation for the Chemical Industry MicroClear M100 Micronutrients for Wastewater Applications Bacteria for Wastewater Treatment Microbial Products for Bioaugmentation and Bioengineering Biological Products for use in Wastewater Applications for Bioengineering and Bioaugmentation Biological Products, Descriptions, Usage and Applications Ask for additional Case History Examples
Case History
Tank Remediation at a PetroChemical Plant We are working with a PetroChemical plant down in Louisana. They had an 800,000 gallon tank filled with wastewater that they wanted to clean up and empty out. We suggested a biological program-MicroSolv 400 for tank remediation. The plant started the program and had the tank cleaned up in less than three weeks, yet the tank had been sitting there filled for over three years. They were tremendously impressed. They would have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to haul out the waste. Tank remediation is not really that hard. As long as the contents are organic, it is actually quite simple. To the bacteria, it is just food. Since the waste stream is already isolated, it becomes just a time and numbers game with the right species of bacteria. Inoculate the tank with bacteria, make sure the critical 5 are in place- (pH, D.O., temperature, N and P) and watch them go to work! It does not really take long depending upon how much you seed the tank with. And the bacteria grow and multiply exponentially, so just sit back and wait. You wind up with a clean tank, clear effluent, and some bacteria residuals on the bottom of the tank that need to be disposed of- ( usually sent to the plants onsite dewatering system) or land applied.
Soil Remediation-Industrial zone Alon Tavor Israel Plant Issues-900 m3 of Contaminated Soil. Pollution: Crude oil. Several option where evaluated and E. H. Green/Environmental Leverage bioaugmentation program solution was elected. Due to the Hydrologic Area which the plant is located in ,the EPA of Israel instructed the plant to move the soil or reduce the TPH ( Total petroleum Hydrocarbons) from 842 to 100 ppm. Initial proposal assumed that it would take a few months due to high heat in the summer, and mainly the amount of soil and contamination to treat. After two weeks, TPH was down to 311, the following week, 133. Final TPH levels were pulled at 4 locations- 38, 39,81 and 37 were the final TPH readings, ~90-95.6% reduction in TPH ( Total petroleum Hydrocarbons) 80% cost reduction in treating the soil biologically including labor, nutrients, biological products, etc vs. hauling out the dirt as hazardous waste~ Soil Remediation Case History- Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons
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Copyright ©2003 Environmental Leverage Inc. All rights reserved.
Revised: July 01, 2008.
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Chemical Plants-Some benchmarks and typical problems
found in this industry 
Some
of the benefits of Pollution Prevention or BioSolids Residuals and Reuse:
Energy
PetroChemical
plants have numerous wastewater issues in their plants. 
control.
Since
many Chemical plants make more than one product, they are constantly changing
the food source for the bacteria in their wastewater treatment plant. This can
sometimes cause problems in developing a healthy biomass. BOD and TSS problems
are usually a result from the constant swings. The changes are sometimes
reflected not only in the flow, but in the amounts and types of BOD. This
makes it very hard to run a wastewater treatment plant without constant
adjustments to the process parameters.
rds
of many millions of dollars a year.
bulking due to the
fact that the influent stream consistently changes as new products or lines are
changes. Bulking can cause an increase in polymer consumption and sludge
handling costs. 
