Table Of ContentPetroleum Waste
Treatment and Pollution
Control
Shahryar Jafarinejad
Faculty Member of Chemical Engineering,
College of Environment, UoE, Iran
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About the Author
Dr. Shahryar Jafarinejad received his bachelor of science (B.Sc.) in chemical
engineering, master of science (M.Sc.) in chemical engineeringeprocess design, and
doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) in chemical engineering from the School of Chemical
Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran. He has taught chemical-
engineering courses at theSchool of Chemical Engineering,College of Engineering,
UniversityofTehran;CollegeofEnvironment,UniversityofEnvironment;andinthe
Department of Chemical Industries at Valiasr Technical College, Technical and
Vocational University. He has also supervised undergraduate and graduate students
and served as an industry consultant. He is currently an assistant professor of the
College of Environment, University of Environment. He has published a book and
several peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and has served as an editorial
board member and reviewer ofengineering journals.
Preface
Petroleum is vital to many industries and in the manufacture of a wide variety of
materials; it accounts for a large percentage of the world’s energy consumption and
thusisacriticalconcernformanynations.However,theworld’sgrowthanditsdepen-
dency on petroleum have raised concerns about the many environmental challenges
within theindustry.
Thepetroleumindustrycanbedividedintofoursectors:(1)exploration,develop-
ment, and production; (2) hydrocarbon processing (refineries and petrochemical
plants); (3) storage, transportation, and distribution; and (4) retail or marketing. A
considerable amount of air emissions, wastewaters, and solid wastes are generated
fromtheactivitiesandprocessesinthepetroleumindustry,andreleaseofthesewastes
cancreateadverseimpactstotheenvironmentandhumanhealth.Inaddition,oilspills
can have disastrous social, economical, and environmental consequences. Thus it is
necessarytoconsiderthemanagementofwastesinthepetroleumindustry.Theeffec-
tivetreatmentofthesewasteshasbecomeaworldwideproblemduetotheirhazardous
nature andthe growth ofthe petroleum industry around the world.
Postsecondary education and training of industry personnel are essential for envi-
ronmentalprotectionsuccessinthepetroleumindustry.Thisbookisacomprehensive
reference for industry personnel, undergraduate and graduate students of chemical
engineering, environmental engineering, etc., and covers environmental issues and
treatment solutionsin thepetroleum industry.
Chapter1givesageneralintroductiontothepetroleumindustry.Chapter2explains
airemissionsandestimation,wastewater,andsolidwastesfromtheexploration,devel-
opment,andproductionofpetroleum;airemissionsandestimation,wastewater,solid
wastes, and odor emissions from hydrocarbon processing (refineries and petrochem-
icalplants);airemissionsandestimation,wastewater,andsolidwastesfromstorage,
transportation,distribution,andmarketing;andoilspills,includingthemajoroilspills
inhistory,estimationofoil-spillvolumeonwater,oniceandsnow,andinoronsoils.
Chapter3focusesontheenvironmentalimpactsofthepetroleumindustry,protection
options,andregulations.Chapter4discussesoil-spillresponsetechnologies.Control
and treatment of air emissions in the petroleum industry are explained in Chapter 5.
Chapter 6 discusses wastewater management in the petroleum industry; wastewater
characterization;selectionofoilewaterseparationandtreatmenttechnologies;waste-
watertreatment(processwastewaterpretreatment,primarytreatment,secondarytreat-
ment,andtertiarytreatmentorpolishing);andwastewater-treatmentplants(WWTPs)
in the petroleum industry. Finally, Chapter 7 covers solid-waste management in the
xiv Preface
petroleumindustry.Thischapterexplainssolid-wastemanagementpractices;selection
of treatment and disposal methods; oil recovery and/or removal methods; water-
removal methods or dewatering; disposal methods; concerns over spent catalysts in
the petroleum industry andtheirmanagement;and handlingof heavy metals.
Although this book is scientifically and technically accurate, some errors may be
present; thus constructive suggestions and comments from readers (instructors,
students, etc.) using this book are appreciated. They will be incorporated into future
reprints or editions ofthis book.
Shahryar Jafarinejad
August 2016
Acknowledgments
Iwouldliketothankmyfamily,friends,students,andcolleaguesforsupportingand
encouragingmewhileIwaspreparingforandwritingthisbook.Theirencouragement
provided mewith extra energy when I required it.
Ihavepreparedandwrittenthisbookbyreadingandusingthousandsofpagesof
papers, fact sheets, reports, manuals, books, etc. I would like to express my sincere
gratitudetopublishers,companies,andorganizationssuchasElsevierB.V.;Springer
Science and Business Media; John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; The American Chemical
Society(ACS);Taylor&FrancisGroup;UniversityofTorontoPress;InTech;EOLSS
Publishers;Gulfpublishingcompany;HindawiPublishingCorporation;ABBOiland
Gas; American Petroleum Institute (API); US Environmental Protection Agency
(US EPA); CONCAWE; European Commission, Joint Research Center; Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); World Bank Group; Research Triangle
Institute(RTI)International;UnitedStatesDepartmentofCommerce,BureauofStan-
dards; United statesCensusBureau; Organization of thePetroleum Exporting Coun-
tries (OPEC); United States Geological Survey (USGS); E&P Forum/UNEP; The
InternationalTankerOwnersPollutionFederation(ITOPF)Limited;NationalOceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Congress of the United States, Office of
Technology Assessment (OTA); National Response Team (NRT) Science and
Technology Committee; IPIECA; Alaska Clean Seas (ACS); Canadian Center for
Energy Information; Department of Environment (DOE) of Malaysia; IL & FS
Ecosmart Limited Hyderabad; Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India;
IranianMinistryofPetroleum;WorldHealthOrganization(WHO);WashingtonState
Department of Ecology; United States Forest Service; Tri-State Synfuels Company;
OSPAR Commission; Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA); Interna-
tional Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna; National Drinking Water Clearinghouse;
National Research Council; Federation of Canadian Municipalities and National
Research Council; Siemens Water Technologies Corp.; Deepwater Horizon;
PetroStrategies,Inc.;Statista;BlueNationReview(BNR);Infoplease;NationalAtmo-
spheric Emission Inventory (NAEI); SkyTruth; Elastec; Qingdao Guangming
EnvironmentalTechnologyCo.,Limited;RoyalDutchShellplc;SalientNews;Ultra-
spinTechnologyPty.Ltd.;VikomaInternationalLtd.;Babcock&WilcoxEnterprises,
Inc.; Barben Analytical, AMETEK; Energie- en milieu-informatiesysteem (EMIS),
VITO;MikroPul;WorleyParsons;TheLindeGroup;MARINERpluss.r.o.(Flottweg,
Solenis); Trevi nv; Schwarz Global Consulting; Yokogawa Corporation of America;
etc.Inaddition,Igratefullythanktheauthorsofthepapers,reports,books,etc.,cited
xvi Acknowledgments
inthisbook.Ialsoofferageneralwordofthankstothemanypeoplewhohelpedme
learn about waste (solid, liquid, and gaseous) treatment and pollution control in the
petroleum industry.
Finally,Iwouldlikegivethanksforthereviewers’comments,whichimprovedthe
qualityofthisbook,andtheSeniorAcquisitionsEditor,ElsevierScienceandTechnol-
ogyBooks,KennethP.McCombs,Publisher,JoeHayton,EditorialProjectManager,
Peter Jardim, Production Project Manager, Mohanambal Natarajan, Designer, Miles
HitchenandPublishingDirector,CathleenSether,whosupportedmeinthepreparation
andpublicationofthisbook.
1
Introduction to the Petroleum
Industry
1.1 Petroleum
The word “petroleum” means “rock oil,” and is derived from the Latin words petra
(rock)andoleum(oil),whichcomefromtheGreekwordspέsraandἔlaion,respec-
tively (Hyne, 2001; Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),
2013; Jafarinejad, 2016a),meaning crude oil andnaturalgas (Jafarinejad, 2016a).In
the other words, petroleum is a mixture of naturally occurring hydrocarbons that
mayexistinanystate,dependingontheconditionsofsubjectedpressureandtemper-
ature. Petroleum is produced from reservoirs in either liquid (crude oil) or gaseous
form (natural gas), depending on the state of the hydrocarbon mixture. Clearly the
word petroleum can cover both naturally occurring unprocessed hydrocarbons and
petroleum products thataremadeupofrefinedhydrocarbons (Speight,1999;OPEC,
2013;Vers¸anK€ok,2015;EIAEnergyKids-Oil (Petroleum),2011;Hyne,2001).
1.1.1 History
It is not clear exactly when humankind first used petroleum. However, according to
Fagan (1991) ancient peoples worshipped sacred fires that were fueled by natural
gas seeping into the surface through pores and cracks. It is also known that asphalt,
a very viscous form of petroleum, was used to waterproof boats and heat homes as
early as 6000BC. Asphalt was also used as an embalming agent for mummies and
intheconstructionoftheEgyptianpyramidsaround3000BC(Fagan,1991).Inaddi-
tion,morethan4000yearsago,accordingtoHerodotusandDiodorusSiculus,asphalt
was used in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon; there were oil pits
near Ardericca (near Babylon), and a pitch spring on Zacynthus (Chisholm, 1911).
GreatquantitiesofitwerefoundonthebanksoftheriverIssus,oneofthetributaries
of the Euphrates. Ancient Persian tablets indicate the medicinal and lighting uses of
petroleum in the upper levels of their society (Totten, 2006). Written sources from
500BC describe howthe Chinese used natural gas toboil water (Devold, 2013). By
AD347,oilwasproducedfrombamboo-drilledwellsinChina(Totten,2006).Early
Britishexplorers toMyanmardocumented aflourishing oilextractionindustry based
in Yenangyaung that, in 1795, had hundreds of hand-dug wells under production
(Longmuir, 2001).
Petroleum’s importance to humankind took a giant leap in the late 1800s when it
replacedcoalastheprimaryfuelforthemachinesoftheindustrialrevolution(Fagan,
1991).In1847,theprocesstodistillkerosenefrompetroleumwasinventedbyJames
Young. He noticed natural petroleum seepage in the Riddings colliery at Alfreton,
Derbyshire from which he distilled light-thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, while
PetroleumWasteTreatmentandPollutionControl.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809243-9.00001-8
Copyright©2017ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.
2 PetroleumWasteTreatmentandPollutionControl
at the same time obtaining a thicker oil suitable for lubricating machinery. In 1848,
Young set up a small business refining crude oil (Russell, 2003). In 1859, Colonel
Edwin Drake drilled the first successful oil well, with the sole purpose of finding
oil. The Drake well was located in the middle of quiet farm country in northwestern
Pennsylvaniaandsparkedtheinternationalsearch foranindustrialuseforpetroleum
(Devold, 2013). From then many researchers, engineers, companies, and countries
helpedtodevelopthepetroleumindustry.Intoday’sindustrializedsociety,petroleum
meanspower,anditisnowimportantacrosssocieties,includingineconomy,politics,
and technology.
1.1.2 Crude Oil
Crudeoilconsistsofapproximately10e14wt%hydrogenand83e87wt%ofcarbon.
Oxygen(0.05e1.5wt%),sulfur(0.05e6wt%),nitrogen(0.1e2wt%),andmetalssuch
asvanadium,nickel,iron,andcopper(nickelandvanadium<1000ppm)aresomeof
the impurities found in crude oil. Crude oil is not a uniform material and its exact
molecular and fractional composition varies widely with formation of oil, location,
age of the oil field, and the depth of the individual well. Crude oils obtained from
different oil reservoirs have widely different characteristics (Speight, 1999; Vers¸an
K€ok,2015;Jafarinejad,2016a).Speight(1999)reportedthatthehydrocarbonportion
may beaslow as50%byweight,eg,inheavy crude oil andbitumens,or ashigh as
97%byweightinlighterparaffiniccrudeoil.Manyoilreservoirscontainlivebacteria
(OllivierandMagot,2005;Speight,1999).Somecrudeoilsareblack,heavy,andthick
liketar,andothersarebrownornearlyclearwithlowviscosityandlowspecificgrav-
ity (Vers¸an K€ok, 2015). Usually four different types of hydrocarbon molecules
(alkanes or paraffins (15e60%), naphthenes, or cycloparaffins (30e60%), aromatics
or benzene molecules (3e30%), and asphaltics (reminder)) appear in crude oil. The
relative percentage of each varies from oil to oil, which determines the properties of
the oil (Hyne, 2001).
1.1.3 Natural Gas
An oil well produces predominantly crude oil, with some natural gas dissolved in it.
But, a gas well produces predominantly natural gas. Natural gas consists of approxi-
mately 65e80% carbon, 1e25% hydrogen, 0e0.2% sulfur, and 1e15% nitrogen.
Hydrocarbon molecules of natural gas are generally the paraffin type and range
fromonetofourcarbonatomsinlength,butuptosixcarbonatomsmayalsobefound
in small quantities. A typical natural gas hydrocarbon composition is 70e98%
methane, 1e10% ethane, trace to 5% propane, trace to 2% butane, and trace to 5%
pentane and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, including benzene and toluene
(Hyne, 2001; Speight, 1999; Jafarinejad, 2016a). In addition, water vapor, hydrogen
sulfide(H S),carbondioxide,helium,nitrogen,andothercompoundsintheminority
2
may be found in raw natural gas (Devold, 2013; Jafarinejad, 2016a). Gaseous impu-
ritiesinnaturalgasthatdonotburnarecalledinert(noncombustible).Carbondioxide,
IntroductiontothePetroleumIndustry 3
water vapor, helium, and nitrogen are the major inert components in natural gas
(Speight, 1999; Hyne,2001;Jafarinejad, 2016a).
The gas in which methane is the major constituent is called lean gas. Liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) ismade from propane gas.Sweet naturalgas has nodetectable
hydrogensulfide,whereassournaturalgascontainshydrogensulfide.Thenaturalgas
from which the higher molecular weight hydrocarbons have been extracted is called
residuegasandthegasderivedfrompetroleumbutthatisseparatedattheseparation
facility at the wellhead is called casing head gas. Wet natural gas contains less than
0.1gal higher molecular weight hydrocarbons per 1000ft3, but dry natural gas con-
tains more than 0.1gal of such hydrocarbons per 1000ft3. Dissolved gas is the gas
thatoccursasasolutioninthepetroleum,whereasassociatedgasisthegasthatexists
incontactwiththepetroleum(gascap)(Speight,1999;Hyne,2001).Naturalgasfrom
gasandcondensatewellsinwhichthereislittleornocrudeoiliscallednonassociated
gas.Naturalgasliquids(NGLs)areveryvaluablebyproductsofnaturalgasprocessing
thatincludeethane,propane,butane,iso-butane,andnaturalgasoline(Devold,2013).
1.1.4 Petroleum Formation
Petroleumisformedfromtheaccumulationofhydrocarbons.Hydrocarbonsaccumu-
latenaturally,thousandsoffeetbelowthesurfaceoftheEarth,fromthedecomposition
of organic materials like plants and marine animals that died many millions of years
ago. It is a naturally occurring fluid found in rock formations (OPEC, 2013). In the
other words, vast quantities of the remains of decomposed organic materials settled
to sea or lake bottoms and mixed with sediments buried in layers of clay, slit, and
sand.Asfurtherlayerssettledtothebed,inthelowerregions,heatandpressurebegan
to rise. This process caused the organic matter to change, first into a waxy material,
which is found in various oil shales around the world, and then with more heat into
liquidandgaseoushydrocarbons.Oilornaturalgasformationisrelatedtotheamount
ofpressureandthedegreeofheat,alongwiththetypeofbiomass.Itisbelievedthat
more heat produces lighter oil, even higher heat or biomass made predominantly of
plant material produced natural gas (Petroleum.co.uk, 2015; Adventures in Energy,
2015; Braun and Burnham,1993;Kvenvolden, 2006).
1.1.5 Classification and Characterization
Inthepetroleumindustry,crudeoilcangenerallybeclassifiedbythegeographicloca-
tionitisproducedin(eg,WestTexasIntermediate,Brent,orOman),itsgravity,andits
sulfur content. Different types of petroleum contain different chemical compositions
and properties such as density, viscosity, color, boiling point, pour point, etc., and
canvarywidelyamongdifferentcrudeoils(Speight,1998,1999).Thechemicalcom-
positions of crude oil and natural gas were discussed above. As noted, sulfur is an
undesirableimpurityincrudeoilandnaturalgas,andwhenitisburned,formssulfur
dioxide,agasthatpollutestheairandformsacidrains.Onthebasisofsulfurcontent,
petroleums are classified as sour or sweet. Crude oils with less than 1wt% sulfur
