Petroleum Refinery Waste

Petroleum refinery effluents are generally the wastes produced from industries primarily engaged in crude oil refining, fuel manufacturing, lubricants and petrochemical intermediates. These effluents are mainly composed of oil, grease and many other toxic organic compounds.

The characteristics of distillation processes do not possess the capability of elevated operating temperature, typically greater than 415 ̊C. This has led to the generation of large quantities of nondistillable residues.

The main sources of generated oily sludge in a petroleum refinery:

There are sources of hydrocarbon rich sludge from refinery sites:

• sludge from separator bottoms
• heat exchanger sludge
• slop oil emulsion solids
• crude oil tank bottoms (crude oil, distillates, decant oil, bunker)

Petroleum waste as a hazardous material

The harm of oily sludge to the environment is extremely serious. These wastes contain both organic components and heavy metals and are classified as hazardous waste by the EPA. According to more recent research work, high concentration of metals in petroleum sludge from refineries have been reported as Zn, Fe, Cu, Cr, Ni, and Pb. therefore, managing waste oils is crucial.

The improper disposal of petroleum sludge to the environment, creates a major threat such as significant modifications to the chemical and physical properties of the surrounding soils.

Treatment by Pyroltech Platform:
Pyroltech plants are designed to easily transfer to a refinery, so it is a cost-effective and environmentally sound solution to deriving valuable products from hydrocarbon-rich refinery residue.

The advantages of Pyroltech Platform compared to other treatment methods for rich hydrocarbon residues in petroleum refineries include the following items:

• Permanent disposal via incineration of such material can be considered a waste of a valuable resource but Pyroltech Platform of rich hydrocarbons can be used as a conversion system of wastes into raw materials for other important processes.

• The extraction of valuable products, especially commodity chemicals, from the hydrocarbon residue also reduces the volume of feedstock to be subjected to combustion, therefore resulting in a net reduction of CO2 generation.

•  Pyroltech Platform is an alternative to treating hazardous sludge via biological treatment and the use of specifically developed bacterial strains to promote the decomposition reaction of hydrocarbon sludge.

•  Chemical extraction is a common method for resource recovery but most of the used extractant is relatively expensive. The complicated operation and the need for further refining processes are the main obstacles hindering the development of this method.