Abstract
The oily sludge from crude oil contains hazardous BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene) found in the bottom sediment of the crude oil tank in the petroleum refining plant. This study uses microwave treatment of the oily sludge to remove BTEX by utilizing the heat energy generated by the microwave. The results show that when the oily sludge sample was treated for 60 s under microwave power from 200 to 300 W, the electric field energy absorbed by the sample increased from 0.17 to 0.31 V/m and the temperature at the center of the sludge sample increased from 66.5 °C to 96.5 °C. In addition, when the oily sludge was treated for 900 s under microwave power 300 W, the removal rates were 98.5% for benzene, 62.8% for toluene, 51.6% for ethylbenzene, and 29.9% for xylene. Meanwhile, the highest recovery rates of light volatile hydrocarbons in sludge reached 71.9% for C3, 71.3% for C4, 71.0% for C5, and 78.2% for C6.
Highlights
The refinery industry produces a large amount of sludge during crude oil exploration, production, storage, and the refining process [1,2,3]
The petroleum hydrocarbons from oil sludge contain a variety of aromatic hydrocarbons which are carcinogens, such as BTEX and polycyclic aromatics hydrocarbons (PAHs) [5,6]
This is lower than the regulatory standard of 0.5 mg/L set by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taiwan
Summary
The refinery industry produces a large amount of sludge during crude oil exploration, production, storage, and the refining process [1,2,3]. The dielectric material could absorb the microwaves and raise its internal energy [13], resulting in a faster heating rate [14], shorter reaction time and higher efficiency of electric energy conversion (80–85%) [15]. Through the characteristics of microwaves coupling with high dielectric constant substances in oil sludge, the medium (moisture) in the sludge converts the absorbed microwave energy into heat energy which is enough for the removal of BTEX substances in the sludge. In this way, the value of oil resource recovery after microwave treatment is promoted. By combining with the membrane recovery technique, the high value tail gas could be produced in the process of sludge treatment
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