Petroleum refinery wastewater treatment: A pilot scale study

Muftah H. El-Naas; Riham Surkatti; Sulaiman Al-Zuhair

doi:10.1016/j.jwpe.2016.10.005

Petroleum refinery wastewater treatment: A pilot scale study

Muftah H. El-Naas, Riham Surkatti, Sulaiman Al-Zuhair

Department of Chemical & Petroleum

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

60 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A three-step pilot plant was designed, fabricated and tested for the treatment of highly contaminated petroleum refinery wastewater. The three-step process consisted of an electrocoagulation (EC) unit, a biological treatment in a spouted bed bioreactor (SBBR) using immobilized Pseudomonas putida in PVA particles, and an adsorption process using granular activated carbon in a packed column. The pilot plant was operated for a period of ten months at a flow rate of 1 m³/h, with continuous runs lasting up to 12 h. Different arrangements of the three units were tested to determine the most effective sequence. Placing the EC unit as the pretreatment step resulted in the best performance, since it reduced the COD and suspended solids, and consequently enhanced the performance of the succeeding biodegradation and adsorption units. At the optimum conditions and unit arrangement, the pilot plant was able to reduce the COD by 96% and the concentrations of phenol and cresols by nearly 100%.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	71-76
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Water Process Engineering
Volume	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2016.10.005
Publication status	Published - Dec 1 2016

Keywords

Adsorption
Biodegradation
Electrocoagulation
Pilot plant
Refinery wastewater

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Biotechnology
Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Waste Management and Disposal
Process Chemistry and Technology

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10.1016/j.jwpe.2016.10.005

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title = "Petroleum refinery wastewater treatment: A pilot scale study",

abstract = "A three-step pilot plant was designed, fabricated and tested for the treatment of highly contaminated petroleum refinery wastewater. The three-step process consisted of an electrocoagulation (EC) unit, a biological treatment in a spouted bed bioreactor (SBBR) using immobilized Pseudomonas putida in PVA particles, and an adsorption process using granular activated carbon in a packed column. The pilot plant was operated for a period of ten months at a flow rate of 1 m3/h, with continuous runs lasting up to 12 h. Different arrangements of the three units were tested to determine the most effective sequence. Placing the EC unit as the pretreatment step resulted in the best performance, since it reduced the COD and suspended solids, and consequently enhanced the performance of the succeeding biodegradation and adsorption units. At the optimum conditions and unit arrangement, the pilot plant was able to reduce the COD by 96% and the concentrations of phenol and cresols by nearly 100%.",

keywords = "Adsorption, Biodegradation, Electrocoagulation, Pilot plant, Refinery wastewater",

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T2 - A pilot scale study

AU - El-Naas, Muftah H.

AU - Surkatti, Riham

AU - Al-Zuhair, Sulaiman

PY - 2016/12/1

Y1 - 2016/12/1

N2 - A three-step pilot plant was designed, fabricated and tested for the treatment of highly contaminated petroleum refinery wastewater. The three-step process consisted of an electrocoagulation (EC) unit, a biological treatment in a spouted bed bioreactor (SBBR) using immobilized Pseudomonas putida in PVA particles, and an adsorption process using granular activated carbon in a packed column. The pilot plant was operated for a period of ten months at a flow rate of 1 m3/h, with continuous runs lasting up to 12 h. Different arrangements of the three units were tested to determine the most effective sequence. Placing the EC unit as the pretreatment step resulted in the best performance, since it reduced the COD and suspended solids, and consequently enhanced the performance of the succeeding biodegradation and adsorption units. At the optimum conditions and unit arrangement, the pilot plant was able to reduce the COD by 96% and the concentrations of phenol and cresols by nearly 100%.

AB - A three-step pilot plant was designed, fabricated and tested for the treatment of highly contaminated petroleum refinery wastewater. The three-step process consisted of an electrocoagulation (EC) unit, a biological treatment in a spouted bed bioreactor (SBBR) using immobilized Pseudomonas putida in PVA particles, and an adsorption process using granular activated carbon in a packed column. The pilot plant was operated for a period of ten months at a flow rate of 1 m3/h, with continuous runs lasting up to 12 h. Different arrangements of the three units were tested to determine the most effective sequence. Placing the EC unit as the pretreatment step resulted in the best performance, since it reduced the COD and suspended solids, and consequently enhanced the performance of the succeeding biodegradation and adsorption units. At the optimum conditions and unit arrangement, the pilot plant was able to reduce the COD by 96% and the concentrations of phenol and cresols by nearly 100%.

KW - Adsorption

KW - Biodegradation

KW - Electrocoagulation

KW - Pilot plant

KW - Refinery wastewater

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ER -

Petroleum refinery wastewater treatment: A pilot scale study

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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