Refinery Waste Treatment

A European waste management company uses SAS SludgeTreat 156SC to treat 40,000 MT of waste, and in the process saves the refinery $12m over 4 years.

SAS SludgeTreat 156SC was used to reduce the viscosity of heavy thick crude oil sludge, enabling fast removal with minimal effort and reduced manual labour.

The waste removed from onsite oil storage and tank bottoms is treated using a combination of SAS SludgeTreat 156SC and centrifugation.

The final waste stream after treatment is reduced and significantly drier, making disposal relatively easy and inexpensive.

Additionally, the oil recovered through the treatment process is of such a high quality that it is returned to the refinery.

Picture below shows raw refinery waste prior to treatment with SAS SludgeTreat 156SC 

The Treatment Process:

SAS SludgeTreat 156SC is successfully used at a dose rate of 1% by weight to reduce the viscosity of the waste and to treat the refinery tank bottom slop waste. To date, more than 40,000MT of waste has been treated with an average throughput of 6MT per hour. The following outlines the key steps in the process.

• SludgeTreat 156SC is added to the waste

• SAS SludgeTreat 156SC mixed with refinery waste via batch processing (inline mixing can also be applied)

• Treated waste is processed through centrifuge

• Oil phase (10,000 MT) recovered and recycled by refinery

• Clean solids are removed, left to dry then sent to landfill without solidification

• Recovered water is sent to onsite effluent treatment plant, then discharged to sea

The Results:

• Waste stream disposed to landfill reduced in volume by 80%

• Refinery sludge treatment times reduced by 50%

• The recovered oil fraction is of such high quality that it is returned to the refinery

• Process has saved the refinery $12m over 4 years and is expected to save an additional $12m over the next 4 years.