Performance evaluation of the main units of a refinery wastewater treatment plant - A case study

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2015

Authors

Carlos E. Santo (Author) FEUP; André Fonseca (Author) FEUP; Eva Kumar (Author) FEUP; Amit Bhatnagar (Author) FEUP; Vítor J. P. Vilar (Author) FEUP; Cidália M. S. Botelho (Author) FEUP; Rui A. R. Boaventura (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering

Vol. 3 No. 3

Pages: 2095-2103

ISSN: 2213-3437

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 3 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 14 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology > Environmental engineering

CORDIS: Technological sciences > Technology > Environmental technology

Associated Projects

LSRE-LCM - Laboratório de Processos de Separação e Reação - Laboratório de Catálise e Materiais

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00G-JJW

DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2015.07.011

Abstract (EN): Petroleum refineries generate great amounts of wastewaters which require proper treatment before being discharged into coastal waters or other aquatic systems. The main pollutants present in these industrial wastewaters include suspended particles, biodegradable and refractory organics, hydrocarbons, sulfides, phenols and nitrogen compounds. The performance of the Porto Refinery wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was evaluated in this study. Five sampling campaigns were carried out at six sampling points of the (WWTP), with the purpose of analyzing the most relevant physicochemical parameters and determining the removal efficiencies in each treatment step and the WWTP overall efficiency. The obtained results show that the Porto Refinery WWTP operates with removal efficiencies higher than 90% for TSS, VSS, TPH, O&G, sulfides and phenols, between 80 and 90% for COD, BOD<inf>5</inf> and total nitrogen and around 60% for chlorides. The final effluent meets the discharge limits imposed by the Portuguese legislation. A correlation analysis between the most relevant parameters under study was performed, which contributes to define a reliable monitoring plan based on a limited number of parameters, and provides valuable information regarding the process efficiency, at low cost, to the WWTP managers.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 9