Petrochemical Effluent Research Articles

Exposure and Public Health Effects of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Compounds in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.

In order to achieve improved global health, environmental health risks that could affect this goal have to be reduced as much as possible. This review thus aimed at determining the exposure levels, health risk assessments, and public health effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This review was developed using guidelines provided for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Search was done on Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed databases. A study was included if it was carried out in SSA from 2000 to 2020 and written in English language. Fifty-two studies were finally retained and used for the review. Extracted data included the concentrations of 8 selected priority PAHs (including the PAHs prioritized for their carcinogenic potentials), their sources and reported outcomes. In SSA, PAHs exposure has been linked to the use of unprocessed biomass fuels for cooking, release of poorly treated petrochemical effluents into water bodies, and so on. Related public health effects included the occurrence of respiratory, cardiovascular abnormalities, and so on. Others included destruction of natural biodiversity in soil, water, and atmospheric environmental media. Health risk assessments also buttressed the occurrence of these public health effects of PAHs. In SSA, the region is exposed to a substantial amount of PAHs pollution which is associated with deleterious environmental and epidemiological effects. The adoption of healthier forms of energy, a change of attitude to one that favors environmental sustainability, and proper enforcement of environmental regulations are, however, necessary for attaining environmental sanity in SSA.

Enhanced recovery of acetophenone and 1‐phenylethanol from petrochemical effluent by highly porous starch-based hypercrosslinked polymers

It is highly desirable to design and fabricate porous bio-based adsorbent for efficient and selective recovery of acetophenone (AP) and 1-phenylethanol (PE) from the effluent of propylene oxide and styrene monomer co-production (PO/SM) process. Herein, using cassava starch as the starting material, starch-graft-styrene hypercrosslinked polymers (SSHCPs) were designed and synthesized facilely by starch-graft-styrene copolymerization and subsequent crosslinking via a Friedel-Crafts alkylation route. SSHCP-3 (knitted by 4,4′-bis-(chloromethyl)-1,1′-biphenyl) shows high BET surface area (818 m2·g−1), large pore volume, and high thermal stability, making it a highly efficient adsorbent for removal of aromatic pollutants from water. SSHCP-3 showed high uptake for AP (2.82 mmol·g−1) and selectivity (4.95) of AP over PE in binary-solute adsorption experiments. Spectral studies and theoretical calculation demonstrated that AP and PE uptake could occur at glucose units and benzene moiety via van der Waals interaction and π-π stacking interactions. SSHCP-3 also showed excellent adsorption efficiency of AP (93.6%) and PE (74.4%) in the wastewater discharged from PO/SM process. These results demonstrated that transforming styrene and starch to bio-based hypercrosslinked polymers provides an environmentally friendly and attractive strategy for recovery of AP and PE in practical application.

Treatment of highly concentrated formaldehyde effluent using adsorption and ultrasonic dissociation on mesoporous copper iodide (CuI) nano-powder

Herein we report a successful degradation of highly concentrated formaldehyde (HCHO, 900 ppm <) effluent from a petrochemical industry using sono-catalytic reaction on highly porous (BET surface of 128 m2 g−1) copper iodide (CuI) nanocrystals as the adsorbent. In this regard, the designed experiments for optimization indicated that the ultrasonic wave (40 kHz) and mass of adsorbent (30 g/L) were significant in HCHO removal so that the combination of the adsorption under ultrasonic degradation resulted in approaching the eliminating efficiency of more than 99%. In this way, GC-MS analysis confirmed the CO2 production during HCHO degradation. Although the physisorption mechanism (−15.56 kJ/mol) limited the HCHO concentration (~100 ppm) for removal, addition of ultrasonic irradiation significantly improved the process to eliminate 986 ppm of HCHO from the real petrochemical effluent. Moreover, the mechanisms of HCHO decomposition were scrutinized through theoretical studies (density functional theory (DFT)), as well as thermodynamic and kinetics theories. Correspondingly, as calculated from the DFT, the highest adsorption on cleavage plane (111) of the adsorbent was shown to be in complete agreement with its XRD analysis in which the main peak corresponds to the lattice plane (111).

Evaluation of BTEX adsorption in industrial effluent through the percolation method using rice husk ash as adsorbent material

The aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) are highly volatile and toxic to human health and the environment. Adsorption is a physical-chemical process widely used in effluent treatment in which a material called adsorbate has the capacity to retain components dispersed in an aqueous medium on its surface. Studies of waste recovery demonstrate potentialities and more noble uses than the final disposal. In this sense, the ashes generated from the combustion of rice husk can be used as a by-product with various applications; in the case of this work, as adsorbent material, due to its amorphism and its high surface area. This study aimed to evaluate the adsorption of the aromatic components of a petrochemical effluent (formation water) with the use of two types of rice husk ash generated from two different grate combustion processes in a filtration system under positive pressure. The ashes were segregated and characterized according to their physical, chemical, mineralogical, and microstructural properties. The adsorption procedure by percolation consisted of 1L of petrochemical effluent for 45 g of adsorbent material. The samples of raw effluent were analyzed by gas chromatography. The results proved that the percentage of removal of BTEX composts in the segregated ash I did not potentialize the effect of the adsorption, being higher in the raw ash, with values of 90.2; 94.9; 83.3 and 100 %, while in ash II the effect of the segregation influenced the adsorption process only for the benzene and toluene, with removal values that went from 55.08 to 69.14 % and 69.23 to 75 %, respectively, in both of the ashes studied. The results obtained were inferior to those recommended by the legislation. Thus, the different combustion temperatures of the husk influenced in the characteristics, adsorption capacity, and BTEX removal efficiency by the adsorbate. Therefore, the positive filtration system can be used as a final polishing step in the treatment of petrochemical effluents, replacing conventional systems that use activated carbon.

Complete Genome Sequence of Microbacterium sp. Strain Nx66, Isolated from Waters Contaminated with Petrochemicals in El Saf-Saf Valley, Algeria.

Microbacterium sp. strain Nx66 was isolated from waters contaminated by petrochemical effluents collected in Algeria. Its genome was sequenced using Illumina MiSeq (2 × 150-bp read pairs) and Oxford Nanopore (long reads) technologies and was assembled using Unicycler. It is composed of one chromosome of 3.42 Mb and one plasmid of 34.22 kb.

Applicability of Electrochemical Technology for Treating a Real Petrochemical Effluent by Electro-generated Active Chlorine Species

Applicability of Electrochemical Technology for Treating a Real Petrochemical Effluent by Electro-generated Active Chlorine Species

Electrochemical treatment of real petrochemical effluent: current density effect and toxicological tests.

This work aims to investigate the electrochemical treatment of petrochemical industry effluents (from the northwest region of Brazil) mediated by active chlorine species electrogenerated at ruthenium-titanium oxide supported in titanium (Ti/Ru0.3Ti0.7O2) and boron doped diamond (BDD) anodes by applying 15 and 45 mA cm-2. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) determinations and toxicity analyses were carried out in order to evaluate the process extension as well as the possible reuse of the wastewater after treatment. Toxicity was evaluated by assessing the inhibition of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) stem growth, seed germination, and the production of nitrite (NO-2) and nitrate (NO-3) species. Results clearly showed that the best COD reduction performances were reached at the BDD anode, achieving almost 100% of removal in a short time. Degradation of nitrogen-organic compounds generated NO-2 and NO-3 which act as nutrients for lettuce. Toxicity results also indicated that the electrogenerated active chlorine species are persistent in the effluent after the treatment, avoiding the stem growth, and consequently affecting the germination.

Effect of mixed petrochemical wastewater with different effluent sources on anaerobic treatment: organic removal behaviors and microbial community.

Petrochemical industrial effluent contains industrial wastewater from various manufacturing processes. The mixed treatment of these different petrochemical wastewater effluents may influence the organic removal performance of the anaerobic processes. In this study, three typical petrochemical effluents, including polyester (PE), polyethylene terephthalate, and purified terephthalic acid wastewater, were collected. The effect of the mixed petrochemical wastewater on the organic removal and microbial community structure was investigated in the anaerobic batch assays via spectroscopy and high-throughput sequencing. The organic removal efficiencies were similar (71-85%) in all the batch assays for 90 h acclimation. The mixture of wastewater, especially the addition of PE wastewater, significantly prolonged organic removal process. It was related to the aromatic removal performance and microbial community structure during the mixed wastewater treatment. The microbial community structure in the mixed wastewater batch assay showed high similarity with that in the PE wastewater batch assay. Ignavibacterium, Syntrophus, and Pelotomaculum were crucial to the degradation of aromatic compounds together with Methanosaeta. The mixture of wastewater, especially the addition of PE wastewater, caused the decay of these functional microbes and resulted in the inefficient removal of the aromatic compounds.

Removal of dinitrotoluene from petrochemical wastewater by Fenton oxidation, kinetics and the optimum experiment conditions

The performance of Fenton oxidation processes with simultaneous application of two oxidants including (H2O2) and sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8), in the presence of iron (Fe2+) as a catalyst to oxide dinitrotoluene (DNT) was investigated. For optimization of processes, the effect of operational parameters such as solution pH, oxidant dosages, reaction time and initial DNT concentrations on their performance was evaluated. All experiments were conducted at room temperature (25 ± 2 °C). For all studied processes, the efficiency of pollutant removal was enhanced by increasing the oxidant dosages, while it witnessed a reduction with increasing the initial DNT concentration. The results showed that Fe2+/H2O2/Na2S2O8 system was more efficient in alkaline conditions and the oxidizing of DNT followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. At optimum conditions, the mineralization degree was higher than 86%. Moreover, high potential of DNT removal in a petrochemical effluent sample was observed. Fenton process in the presence of simultaneous application of Na2S2O8 and H2O2 can be used as an effective and promising method for petrochemical wastewaters treatment, due to high efficiency in contaminants removal and also high potential of mineralization.

Ozonation catalyzed by iron- and/or manganese-supported granular activated carbons for the treatment of phenol

Iron- and/or manganese-supported catalysts on granular activated carbons (Fe and/or Mn/GACs) were prepared, and their catalytic activities were evaluated by using them to treat phenol and secondary petrochemical effluent via ozonation. The presence of Fe and/or Mn/GACs significantly improved the degradation and degree of phenol mineralization. Changes in dissolved ozone concentrations and the effects of carbonate and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) indicated that the prepared catalyst enhanced the decomposition of ozone into hydroxyl radicals (·OH), which was determined to be a key factor in catalyzing the ozonation of phenol. Typical intermediate products were identified by GC-MS and HPLC analysis, and a possible degradation pathway of phenol via catalytic ozonation was proposed. The results of XPS, CV, and other experimental data indicated that introducing Fe and/or Mn increased the rate of ozone decomposition into ·OH, and also enhanced the interfacial electron transfer by Fe2+-Fe3+ and Mn2+-Mn3+-Mn4+ redox cycles, resulting in higher catalytic activity. However, the Fe-Mn/GAC surface was shown to undergo galvanic corrosion between Fe3O4 and MnO2, decreasing the catalytic activity. In addition, catalytic ozonation was used to treat secondary petrochemical effluent. The results demonstrated that the Mn/GAC/O3 system significantly improved the quality of phenol-containing wastewater in terms of its COD, TOC, NH4+-N, water color, and ecotoxicity. This study gives a better understanding of the phenol treatment by catalytic ozonation using Fe and/or Mn/GAC.

Computational and experimental study for the desalination of petrochemical industrial effluents using direct contact membrane distillation

The petrochemical, mining and power industries have reacted to the recent South African water crisis by focussing on improved brine treatment for water and salt recovery with the aim of achieving zero liquid effluent discharge. The purpose of this novel study was to compare experimentally obtained results from the treatment of synthetic NaCl solutions and petrochemical industrial brines such as spent ion exchange regenerant brines and reverse osmosis (RO) brines to the classical well-known Knudsen diffusion, molecular diffusion and transition predictive models. The predictive models were numerically solved using a developed mathematical algorithm that was coded using MATLAB® software. The impact of experimentally varying the inlet feed temperature on process performance of the system is presented here and compared to simulated results. It was found that there was good agreement between the experimentally obtained results, for both the synthetic NaCl solution and the industrial brines. The mean average percentage error (MAPE) was found to be 7.9% for the synthetic NaCl solutions when compared to the Knudsen model. The Knudsen/molecular diffusion transition theoretical model best predicted the performance of the membrane for the industrial spent ion exchange regenerant brine with a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 13.3%. The Knudsen model best predicted the performance of the membrane (MAPE of 10.5%) for the industrial RO brine. Overall, the models were able to successfully predict the water flux and can be used as potential process design tools.

A Novel Synergetic Salt- and Acid-induced Ligandless Mixed Micelle Cloud Point Extraction of Ultratrace Levels of Cd, Hg, Bi, and Tl From Petrochemical Effluents Followed by ETAAS Determination

A Novel Synergetic Salt- and Acid-induced Ligandless Mixed Micelle Cloud Point Extraction of Ultratrace Levels of Cd, Hg, Bi, and Tl From Petrochemical Effluents Followed by ETAAS Determination

Rapid and selective recovery of acetophenone from petrochemical effluents by crosslinked starch polymer

A porous crosslinked starch polymer (CSTO) using bitolylene diisocyanate as crosslinker was prepared by a facile method and used to selectively recover acetophenone (AP) from petrochemical effluent mainly containing AP and 1-phenylethanol (PE). The theoretical calculation results indicated that AP exhibited the superior affinity toward the adsorption sites of CSTO through noncovalent interactions. The adsorption measurements showed that, due to the large surface area and high affinity of phenyl rings, CSTO displayed an extremely rapid adsorption rate, a desirable adsorption capacity and selectivity to AP. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms in single solute system agreed well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm model, and the adsorption was exothermic and spontaneous. Furthermore, CSTO showed excellent reusability for selective adsorption of AP from equimolar mixture of AP/PE, prompting us to further examine its applicability. In the practical application, CSTO also revealed a fast, preferential and reusable adsorption of AP from actual petrochemical effluent.

OUTDOOR CULTIVATION OF Scenedesmus obliquus BR003 IN STIRRED TANKS BY AIRLIFT

ABSTRACT: The use of microalgae as a source of raw material for biofuel production has been highly targeted. Compared to other biological options for the capture and use of CO2, microalgae crops have the following advantages: high productivity, lack of competition with feed and food-based products, use of unproductive and non-arable land, and allowance of the use of wastewater for its cultivation. The use of wastewater from industrial, agricultural, and domestic sewage has been indicated as an alternative means to reduce the cost of crops, since such waste is generally released into the environment without previous treatment. This work addresses the use of petrochemical wastewater (ARP) from effluent produced at the Gabriel Passos Refinery (Petrobras refinery unit) for the cultivation of a strain of Scenedesmus obliquus BR003. Twelve experimental units of 20 L each were constructed in the experimental area of the Biofuel Laboratory of the Federal University of Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil in an uncontrolled environment, and the cultures were evaluated by quantification of total carbohydrates, total lipids, dry biomass, and growth evaluated by absorbance. The results showed that the wastewater from petrochemical effluent is an efficient growth medium for the growth of Scenedesmus obliquus BR003 microalgae for large-scale cultivation on land that is not suitable for other agricultural crops.

Optimal process design for recovering effluent gas at subambient temperature

Effluent gas is common in the petrochemical industry. The recovery of effluent gas is of great importance to resource recycle and environmental protection. However, low concentration, low boiling point feature of petrochemical effluent decreases the recovery economy. This article presents a systematic approach to design process networks for recovering effluent gas at subambient temperature. An effluent recovery superstructure that contains HENS (Heat Exchanger Network Synthesis) operator, pressure operator and separation operator is proposed. In addition, multicomponent nonisothermal phase change of streams are allowed inside the HENS operator. Since the process streams exhibit nonlinear temperature-enthalpy relations (T-H curve), we correlate the enthalpy (H) with temperature (T), pressure (P) and compositions (m) of the process streams by a cubic polynomial function to balance the nonlinearity and accuracy of the state equations. The objective of the model is to maximize total annualized revenue by regulating connecting structures as well as operating parameters. Two industry cases are presented to show the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Optimization of phenol biodegradation by efficient bacteria isolated from petrochemical effluents

Phenol is an environmental pollutant present in industrial wastewaters such as refineries, coal processing and petrochemicals products. In this study three phenol degrading bacteria from Arak Petrochemical Complex effluent were isolated which consume phenol. Molecular analysis was used to identify bacteria and isolated bacteria were identified as Rhodococcus pyridinivorans (NS1),Advenella faeciporci (NS2) andPseudomonas aeroginosa (NS3). Among the isolated strains, NS1 had the highest ability to degrade phenol. In order to observe the best yield in phenol biodegradation using NS1, optimization was performed using one factor at a time of experimental design to investigate the effect of four factors, including pH, temperature, phosphate and urea concentration. The optimal biodegradation condition through or tho pathway was pH = 8, urea = 1 g/L, temperature = 30∞C and K 2 HPO 4 = 0.5 g/L. Under the suggested condition, a biodegradation efficiency of 100% was achieved. Moreover, NS1 has shown growth and phenol degradation in concentrations between 250 to 2000 mg/L. In a nutshell, the results revealed that phenol efficiently consumed by NS1 as the sole carbon source. Obviously, the isolate strain may be seen as an important tool in the bioremediation of wastewater effluent, petrochemical complex.

Kinetic Modeling for Removal of Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cr Ions from Petrochemical Effluent using Termite Soil

Kinetic Modeling for Removal of Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cr Ions from Petrochemical Effluent using Termite Soil

Application of a Zero-Valente Iron-Per Sulfate System to Treat Petrochemical Wastewater With High-Total Dissolved Solids Containing Para-Chlorophenol

Background: Zero-valent iron (ZVI) can effectively activate persulfate (PS) generating free sulfate radicals (SO4•–), thereby presenting a promising technology to degrade recalcitrant organic contaminants such as para-chlorophenol (PCP) in wastewater. Objectives: The current study aimed to examine the feasibility and application of ZVI/PS system through batch experiments to degrade PCP of petrochemical effluent, which its treatment is included in The United States environmental protection agency (USEPA) priority pollutant list. Materials and Methods: Effects of dosages of ZVI (0.056 - 2.8 g/L), ZVI to PS molar ratio (0.1 - 5.0), PS concentration (2.5 - 25.0 mM/L), pH = (3.0 - 11.0), contact time (5 - 240 minutes), and ZVI reusability (three cycles) on PCP degradation were examined. Results: The results showed that the PCP degradation increased with an increase in ZVI dosage from 0.056 to 1.4 g/L, an increase in persulfate concentration from 2.5 to 15.0 mM/L, and an increase in ZVI to PS molar ratio from 0.1 to 2.5. The optimal initial pH for PCP removal was 5.0 and the maximum removal efficiency of 70% was achieved within 120 minutes. Moreover, the ZVI catalyst was reused until the third cycle to activate the persulfate and degrade PCP. However, the degradation efficiency of PCP gradually decreased to 51.7% when the ZVI reuse time increased. Conclusions: The results indicate that using ZVI/PS system is not an efficient enough method to treat petrochemical effluent, due to the complexity of petrochemical wastewater matrix and high- total dissolved solids (TDS) content, as well.

UV-Assisted Digestion of Petrochemical Industry Effluents Prior to the Determination of Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu by Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry

A petrochemical effluent is usually a matrix of very high complexity and composition variability, requiring robust and suitable methods for routine analysis. In this paper, the feasibility of applying a voltammetric technique for the determination of metals species in the petrochemical industry effluent was demonstrated after UV-assisted digestion procedure. Voltammetric (electrolyte volume, deposit time, pulse time, pulse amplitude and scan rate) and digestion variables (hydrogen peroxide volume, nitric acid volume and digestion time) were studied using a 2-level factorial design. The developed voltammetric method using anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) presented limits of quantification of 11, 5, 15 and 5 µg L−1 for Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu, respectively, and was effective to analyze petrochemical effluents after UV-digestion.

Kinetic Modeling for Removal of Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cr Ions from Petrochemical Effluent using Termite Soil

Increase in concentration of heavy metals ions in our water bodies is of great concern. This work is aimed at providing an environmental and cost effective adsorbent for the removal of Pb, Ni, Cr and Cd from petrochemical effluent. Termite soil was pretreated and used for the sorption process and process parameters such as contact time and particle size of the adsorbent was varied. Optimum contact time of 60 minutes was obtained for Pb and Cd ions while 40 minutes was obtained for Ni and Cr ions for all particle sizes of adsorbent used. Initial reaction rate H(mg/g.min) was of the order for the different particle sized adsorbent, 75mm: Pb>Cd>Cr>Ni, 212mm: Cd>Pb>Cr>Ni and 300mm: Cd>Pb>Ni>Cr. Pseudo first order kinetics had less difference between experimental and theoretical adsorption capacity (Qa - Qb) with R2 close to that obtained for Pseudo-second order kinetics. Hence it is considered as the kinetic order for the adsorption process. Percentage of the studied ions removed from the wastewater solution shows the suitability of the adsorbent sequestering of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater.