Composition and Properties of Petroleum Sludge Produced at the Refineries

Composition and Properties of Petroleum Sludge Produced at the Refineries

Type	Journal Article
Author	Sergyi Vdovenko
Author	Sergyi Boichenko
URL	Free Full Text Source: http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?C21COM=2&I21DBN=UJRN&P21DBN=UJRN&IMAGE_FILE_DOWNLOAD=1&Image_file_name=PDF/Chemistry_2015_9_2_23.pdf
Issue	9,№ 2
Pages	257–260
Publication	Chemistry & Chemical Technology
Date	2015
Abstract	Petroleum sludge composition and physicochemical characteristic and thermal stability of its organic matter have been investigated. The regularities of sludge layers distribution in the storage ponds have been established. A great amount of petroleum sludge is formed during oil processing at the refineries. It is stored in special storage ponds of the open type. Sludge is formed as a result of waste water treatment, during repair works, reservoirs cleanup, etc. Petroleum sludge is capable to penetrate into ground and to pollute water and air. Moreover, hydrocarbons present in sludge are irreversible losses at the refineries. The amount of sludge constantly increases. Therefore the problem of its utilization is an urgent question. The existing methods of sludge utilization do not allow to treat it completely. In most cases only organic matter of sludge is under processing but a considerable amount of solid wastes and contaminated water remains untreated.While burning – the most common utilization method – a great amount of ash is formed and contaminates the environment. The main method of sludge primary treatment is separation of organic matter from water and mechanical impurities. Sludge organic matter may be added to the crude oil supplied for the refineries but sometimes it is impossible due to the peculiarities of oil and sludge composition. One of the ways of sludge utilization is its usage for the production of bitumen, building and lubricating materials. The promising methods of sludge treatment are pyrolysis and coking as a result of which hydrocarbon gases and distillates are formed. Nevertheless all the mentioned methods were studied insufficiently; therefore the problem of sludge treatment is still unsolved. Our approach to the problem solving includes two stages: the first one is studying physico-chemical properties and group composition of petroleum sludge in detail and the second one – investigation of possibility of sludge qualified treatment.