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Minimize Wastewater
Contamination
Source reduction techniques dramatically reduce
hydrocarbons lost to sewer system
Authors:
L. Helm, Amoco Corporation, Mandan, North Dakota;
C. Spencer, Mustang Engineering, Inc., Houston, Texas; and
R. T. van den Dungen, DUBRAE Consultancy b.v. (previously, SHELL INTERNATIONAL b.v.)
Article reprinted from HYDROCARBON PROCESSING® magazine, June 1998 issue, pgs. 91 –100.
F/13M/898 Copyright © 1998 by Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
LOSS PREVENTION/ENVIRONMENT
Minimize wastewater
contamination
Source reduction techniques
dramatically reduce hydrocarbons
lost to sewer system
Potential savings,
with separation operations. This insight allows opera-
thousand $/yr
500
tors to anticipate and respond to potential upsets, receive
400
advanced warning of an upset and optimize the system
300
to correct and avoid such upsets.
200
Reducing oil loss to the wastewater treatment sys-
100
tems lessens slop oil recovery demand and minimizes
0
the pollutant content of the final effluent. Applying 0.025 0.05 0.075 0.1 0.125 0.15
source-reduction techniques help plants meet their Desalter oil under carry reduction, %
local discharge regulations, while reducing recovery
work required. Fig. 3. Potential savings due to reducing hydrocarbon losses in the
desalting process.
CASE STUDIES
Amoco’s Mandan refinery needed to reduce its total designed and sized segmented probe so that the seg-
plant benzene discharge below 10 metric tons/year ments (each several feet in length) could be sequentially
(mtpy). This decreased level would allow the refinery installed in an area with very limited ground clearance.
to be reclassified under existing environmental leg- Three years later during a scheduled turnaround, the
islation. Using the traditional approach of re-design- primary control probes were removed and replaced with
ing and expanding the WWTP to reduce benzene lev- single-piece probes. The segmented probe had operated
els, costs were estimated to exceed $70 million. flawlessly, however, the new single-piece probe was
However, combining source reduction with several installed for improved convenience and to avoid using
other water reuse initiatives, the refinery’s total cap- a multi-segment probe (with larger cross-sectional area)
ital investment was less than $4 million. The source in a high-pressure vessel.
reduction efforts subsequently reduced annual ben- Run length, debugging, optimization and pro-
zene discharge from an original level of 17 mtpy to cess control. The Mandan refinery’s primary objec-
only 3 mtpy (an 80% reduction). This reduction not tives were: enhanced run length and improved pro-
only exceeded required compliance with EPA regula- cess control and unit optimization. Run lengths
tions, but dramatically reduced emission levels, thus improved dramatically; the probes proved to be imper-
enabling the refinery to be reclassified. vious to varying operating conditions and fouling that
Tank farm. Amoco’s difficulties in dewatering float- affected the reliability and operability. The EA sys-
ing-roof tanks with minimal hydrocarbon losses had tems have been operating in the tank farm since 1991
been quite complicated, especially during rainy weather. and in the desalters since 1992, both without any
The refinery’s engineers selected EA for this task after interruption for cleaning or other maintenance.
testing several other technologies. The alternative As with any new technology, training and familiar-
methods were found to be very limited, unreliable and ization is needed. The EA system was a learning expe-
difficult to operate even in good weather conditions. rience for the Amoco operators. At the tank farm, the
One method previously used by Amoco involved a optimum location for the probes on each tank type
floating device with a swing arm (requiring manual (crude or finished product) was determined after a few
adjustment) for sample collection. Mandan found this months of field experience. On the desalters, the probes
approach to be cumbersome and not particularly accu- made their measurements within the desalter; thus,
rate. In addition, because the task was labor-inten- operators were using this new instrumentation without
sive, the sampling frequency was not sufficient to being able to physically see the measurement points.
deliver the required information in a timely manner. Verification was required to instill confidence in the
Replacing the older method with EA, provided con- readings; new sampling techniques and a procedure
tinuous operation and required comparatively little were developed that also followed a learning curve.
operator involvement. Environmental and operational benefits. The
The desalters. In the more demanding environ- Mandan refinery substantially reduced hydrocarbons
ment of the desalters, Amoco had developed a proce- lost to the wastewater system. Equally important, the
dure of purging the emulsion layer from the vessel dur- refinery minimized final effluent benzene by over
ing severe upset periods. Operations staff prided 80%. The EA system has proven to be very accurate
themselves on performing this function; they developed and easy to use. Because the new technology operates
the determination and execution of purging to an art. on a continual basis, the total effectiveness of the refin-
Using EA methods for this application, however, con- ery’s operation has improved. The probes have
verted this art into a science. The EA probes were pre- enhanced Amoco’s sampling techniques, with most of
set to continuously indicate the percentage of water in the sampling no longer lost to the sewer.
the emulsion layer and then automatically determine Improved manpower utilization. Amoco has
the optimum time to purge. noted multiple benefits in the tank farm water drainage
Engineering design, construction and startup. operations. When operators are draining water from a
Installing the probes in the desalters was quite simple, tank, they simply set the probe to close the drain valve
but more significantly did not require any downtime when it detects hydrocarbon approaching the drain
(Fig. 1). The probe entries were hot-tapped onto the ves- line. The operator can leave the area to complete other
sel at normal operating conditions. The hot tapping was tasks with confidence, since the probe can be adjusted
done through a vertical manway, with a specifically to automatically shutdown at the desired hydrocarbon
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING / JUNE 1998
concentration. The system has also been set-up to acti-
vate a control room alarm and/or local signal to let the
$/bbl
operator know the operation is complete. Besides
adding flexibility and efficiency to the operator work
force, the potential for either under- or over-draining Oppportunity cost 1.45
the tanks has been virtually eliminated.
Better control. Other refiners who have retrofitted Processing cost
their desalters with EA technology have observed a
• Fuel 0.67
dramatic shift in operator understanding of desalter
operations. Before using EA methods, desalter upsets • Power 0.21
often remained undetected until they manifested them-
• Cooling water 0.09
selves in downstream equipment disruptions. In
Amoco’s 75,000-bpd refinery, crude cuts of 10,000 bpd • Catalysts/chemicals 0.22
to 15,000 bpd were not uncommon during severe
desalter upsets. Following installation of the improved
Total 2.64
control system, operators reported a greatly enhanced
sense of control over the unit from the monitoring meth-
ods that allowed them to see and respond to potential WWTP/Emulsion breaking 35.00
upsets in a systematic and effective fashion. While
Lost opportunity and reprocessing costs for
desalter operations and tank-water drawing represent typical Gulf coast refinery are $9.64/bbl
about 75% of the source reduction opportunities in a
refinery, similar environmental, profitability and oper- Fig. 4. Reprocessing costs for a typical U.S. Gulf Coast refinery.
ational benefits are possible by applying EA technol-
ogy in any refinery process that involves controlling
hydrocarbon/water separation. monitor the function and output of the probes.) The
most critical factor for Shell was acceptance of the new
Case history two—the Reichstett-Vendenheim instrumentation. Reliance on accuracy was emphasized
Refinery, France. The selection process for new inter- and periodic sampling for verification was encouraged.
face control instrumentation was part of a desalter Debugging, optimization and process control.
system redesign for Shell-advised refineries. The inad- The first installed probes were closely followed to
equacy of existing density-based instruments had been evaluate performance. The immediate success of the
confirmed by failure reports from many sites. During control applications, however, nearly rendered proper
this process, Shell determined that sharp interfaces evaluation impossible. Operations managers did not
required by traditional level instrumentation were allow the probes to be touched for recalibration or set-
not realistic. The problems were aggravated when the tings alterations. The probes were regarded as (and
displacers were mounted in external chambers. Shell’s remain perceived as) “pieces of magic fit for the job.”
multidisciplinary group of specialists decided to eval- Because they required no maintenance, instrument
uate EA, with controlling percentage oil-in-water as engineers did not have the opportunity to become
the focus objective. familiar with them. Therefore, it was advised that the
Technology choice. Shell’s instrument engineers engineers be allowed to experiment with probes des-
initially reacted by simply comparing the cost of EA tined for new installations in workshop configurations
probes with other density-based units. However, the so they could become familiar with the probe behavior
company’s process engineers provided data and refer- before installation.
ences from exploration and production operations. This Improved control. The reliability of the resultant
practical experience documented successful application interface control greatly contributed to the total suc-
of the new technology. The decision-making team began cess of the re-design project. Savings in chemical con-
evaluating all alternatives according to pre-established sumption and reduced oil in the effluent water streams
criteria, among them oil-in-water detection. Capacitance readily justified selecting the new technology. Reduced
technology also had some track record in the field and overhead corrosion and prolonged catalyst life also rep-
has not improved performance of these systems. Even resented substantial savings, but required greater study
lesser-known technologies such as time domain reflec- to quantify. More important to Shell, however, was the
tometry (TDR) were reviewed, but were found to be contribution of the new control systems to improve-
unsuitable for process conditions. The team concluded ments in plant availability, unit throughput, equip-
that none of the available level measurement instru- ment reliability and total quality of control.
ments would accomplish the objectives. Consequently, The EA instruments have since been selected as
the EA oil-water measurement instruments were essential and standard elements for all future re-
selected for testing to confirm performance figures and design projects. For example, the Shell Pernis Refin-
reliability in demanding conditions. ery (Netherlands) became one of the many group-
Engineering design, construction. Because the advised refineries to follow the Reichstett lead, and
standards are not yet equal on all continents, the design it has reported very positive results.
of EA probes was adapted to conform to Shell’s flanged
connection requirements for the Reichstett refinery. Economic benefits. A Hawaiian refinery has used
(For example, most refineries later opted for placing EA technology to reduce their desalting process chem-
sample valves on the connections to enable them to ical feed by an average of 25% to 33% (resulting in a
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING / JUNE 1998
the same study is that refiners using the EA methods
12 to monitor desalter emulsion characteristics better con-
trolled their chemical injection programs. The potential
10 savings from reducing lost opportunity costs, emulsion
Potential savings, million $/yr