Process Improvement in Oil Refineries
A technical paper on this subject is available.
Treating Refinery Effluent Water
Separation of oil from refinery wastewater is carried out almost exclusively by gravity separation using flotation of the oil droplets in the water, in American Petroleum Institute (API) separators and in occasionally in large tanks.
This design is not sufficient to meet the effluent requirements in most areas, (according the API study quoted in their "Design and Operation of Oil Water Separators, Publication 421") and installation of coalescing media in the existing pits is a good economic alternative to other more costly designs such as the use of dissolved air floatation or other systems.
Kirby Mohr of MSR designed the world's largest API retrofit system for a US refinery. The design flow rate for this system is 20,000 US gpm (4,600 m3/hour) and the system is actually four separators constructed in a single structure. It was constructed by dividing two existing API separators each in half and installing a new inlet/outlet system in the center. This system has been in operation for several years and is consistently providing effluent qualities of 5 mg/l or less.
A technical paper describing this and other refinery systems is available - please use the Publication Request Form to request it.
Plant Process Improvement
There are dozens of places in any oil refinery where it is necessary to separate aqueous and hydrocarbon streams. These have often been mixed intentionally to facilitate a chemical reaction or may result from water phases condensing within the process. Rain water may also enter the tops of storage tanks and migrate to the bottom of the hydrocarbon phases.
MSR Coalescing systems can be used almost anywhere there are two non-mixing phases to be separated and can improve process operations and increase recovery of valuable products.
Please contact MSR to discuss your separation needs.
Once-Through Cooling Water Systems
Some refineries utilize "once-through" cooling systems using river or lake water as the fluid for cooling process streams. This is an efficient and inexpensive means of cooling but can be a water contamination source if any of the heat exchangers leak. The usual design is to have the effluent water from the refinery exit the plant by one or two pits designed as rudimentary API separators. This design is not sufficient to meet the effluent requirements in most areas, so installation of coalescing media in the existing pits is a good economic alternative to other more costly designs such as the use of dissolved air floatation or cooling tower systems.
A technical paper on this subject is available - please see please use the Publication Request Form order.
