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Some benchmarks and typical problems found in these industries.
Typical Refineries have a ton of spent caustic. Many times they haul this off as hazardous waste. Sometimes this can be used for pH adjustment by other companies in their waste treatment plant. Many times if nitrification is not a problem, this can be bled into their own waste activated sludge plant at low levels with significant reductions in cost.
Refineries many times do not collect all the oils off the process side.
Improvements to your DAF or API can collect this clean oil and return it to the
front end of the system thereby increasing your barrel productivity. Waste oily
sludge many times is hauled off as hazardous waste. With the right process, this can
be re-used sometimes in the coker. Optimization upstream is always best, but still, optimizing your API and DAF can improve capture of oil and oily sludge that can be re-processed or reused. It also takes a tremendous loading off your activated sludge or biological system. Beneficial Reuse What are some of the options available for hydrocarbon waste that might be used as a fuel source? Boiler and Cooling Tower Blowdown
Many refineries have tanks for storage onsite or for spills.
Petroleum refining is the most energy-intensive manufacturing industry in the United States.
Oil removal in complete and scum build up obvious
Scum build-up in weirs of clarifier causing uneven flow and TSS carryover. Did you know that algae in a sample can give a false BOD reading?
Many refineries have API's or DAF's prior to the secondary treatment system
The more oil and scum solids that can be removed prior to the Aeration Basin, the easier the loading on the biomass in the Aeration basin.
Solids build-up can cause gassing and ashing on DAF's or API's also that leads to poor removal rates of solids and organics. Bacteria still grow in both pieces of equipment. They are not sterile environments. Lack of oxygen at the bottoms where solids build up can cause oil to burp out of the solids and wind up in the effluent that make its way down to the aeration basin. Take care to measure and control solids build-up in the API and DAF.
Here is a broken diffuser in an aeration basin. Oxygen levels are critical to measure in refineries that have to nitrify. Alkalinity is also a critical thing to measure and add if not in sufficient quantities.
Sometimes refineries have lagoons or final polishing
Here
is a What to sample, where to sample, how to control the biomass and the process are critical if final permit levels are to be achieved. Testing, analyses as well as data interpretation can make all the difference in running a wastewater treatment plant successfully. A common mistake in refineries that we see consistently is the use of Powdered Activated Carbon added to the aeration basins. For a quick band-aid when a toxic spill, this is used occasionally to help the biomass. The PAC absorbs some of the organics. The problem with the use of PAC is that continual use takes up space in the Aeration Basins, creates more solids, leaves less room for healthy active biomass. While your solids may seem higher and MLSS higher, in reality, the solids are not bacteria, the health of the biomass deteriorates and BOD removal and nitrification efficiency eventually drop off. Many plants overlook some of the impact and do not realize this. They stop wasting, build up more solids in the clarifier, increase ashing, increase lack of oxygen in the sytem and start the biomass and efficiency into a downward spiral.
Black Carbon particles instead of floc 100x Carbon inclusions inside the floc 400x Wasting out some of the carbon is usually recommended and reseeding with new biomass or commercial seed. MicroSolv 400 Biological Product for Refining and Petrochemical
Some plants have too much ammonia or amines in the influent and need to nitrify. Nutrient control at refineries plants can be a serious issue.alkalinity is typically a factor often overlooked with nitrification at refineries. In the wastewater plant, not only do you need to control and nitrifiers, but also the carbonaceous bacteria need monitor and control for proper biological activity and final effluent BOD and TSS controls along side of nutrient control. Why you should do a Total Nitrogen Balance Oh no, my nitrifiers are dead and I am not getting nitrification!
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. Boiler and Cooling Tower Blowdown Cooling Tower Microscopic analyses
Case History
Tank Remediation at a PetroChemical Plant We are working with a PetroChemical plant down in Louisiana. 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.
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
Audits and Onsite Training and Consulting In order to "Audit" or Troubleshoot a Refinery or PetroChemical wastewater treatment plant, a number of things need to be looked at.
A physical walk-through of the plant needs to be conducted with visual observations noted. A Microscopic analyses of the
Biological portion of the waste treatment system needs to be conducted. Settleometer Testing needs to be conducted A sludge judge should be used on a Clarifier Examination of lab data- current testing procedures and results Walk through and correlation of process side to wastewater treatment plant operations A fully detailed final report is issued with process recommendations, system changes, areas for optimization and increased efficiency.
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MicroSolv 400 is an improved biological product, specifically formulated and packaged for use in Refineries and Chemical plants to help with hard to degrade compounds. The bacteria are extremely resistant to toxic effects of the chemical pollutant fraction and are able to multiply and metabolize in the presence of certain heavy metals. |
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Copyright ©2003 Environmental Leverage Inc. All rights reserved.
Revised: July 01, 2008.
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Refineries
and PetroChemical Industries
Tank
remediation is actually very easy to do at refineries. Many refineries spent
millions hauling off tanks that have been used to capture spills, when in fact
they could perform on-site remediation and either totally clean the liquids up
or pre-treat them and slowly bleed them into their existing wastewater treatment
plant.
with Activated Sludge or aeration basins.
ponds.
picture of floating solids and scum on an aeration basin. Understanding the
biomass, what goes on, how to control it are critical in a refinery when there
are constantly changes in the chemistry that comes in with the loading. Benzene,
toluene and some of the large ring compounds are really just food to the
bacteria, but they must have enough time and numbers in order to break down the
compounds sufficiently.
Refineries have numerous
wastewater issues in their plants. 
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. 
Ammonia and
amines are a part of the influent. Many operators would like more help on
solving problems with 