Question
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Regional shifts in higher refinery capacity seem to correspond with the need for more intensive water treatment programmes involving wastewater recycle processes while protecting heat exchangers and linked assets from fouling and corrosion. At what level of investment have you seen refinery operators commit to plant water quality while reducing its consumption?
Mar-2023
Answers
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Andrea Laudonia, Solenis, alaudonia@solenis.com
Water scarcity is recognised as a top global risk to refineries. The goal of using water as efficiently as possible, especially in water-constrained regions of the world, is now an important part of most refinery operators’ environmental sustainability plans, with programmes being implemented to reduce water consumption even as refining capacity increases. Concurrently, refineries in many regions also are affected by a decrease in water quality that requires more intensive treatment chemistry and automation and digital programmes to ensure programme performance.
Refinery operators recognise the need for more intensive water treatment programmes and are committed to improving plant water quality while reducing water consumption. Refinery operators typically develop water conservation goals because of their current and future water scarcity and quality risks. Efficient plans to achieve these goals can be created by taking specific steps to identify and evaluate water conservation options: reduce, reuse, and recycle water. The first step is to reduce water use, which is accomplished through process improvements and improved operation of existing equipment. The second step is to reuse water reclaimed as make-up without any change to its quality.
The third step is to recycle reclaimed water as make-up after quality improvement. With each step, the financial investment, the level of complexity, and the use of water treatment resources increase. As water scarcity continues to increase and water quality continues to decrease, more refineries are evaluating recycle projects to meet their water conservation and performance goals. Used water or wastewater has a different quality than fresh water in terms of total solid content, total organic carbon concentration, concentration of salts and metals, and microbiological species.
Poor water quality can reduce functionality or cause severe damage, such as reduced heat transfer by biofilm or inorganic scale in the heat exchanger or microbiologically induced corrosion. Innovative, high-performance and flexible chemistries, together with advanced performance-based monitoring and control tools, are becoming essential for water treatment companies partnering with refineries to meet their water conservation goals, especially when recycling water. A comprehensive wastewater treatment programme can minimise the size of investment in a recycling project that ensures good feedwater quality.
Sep-2023
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