CA1149305A - Contactor process - Google Patents

Contactor process

Info

Publication number
CA1149305A
CA1149305A CA000328864A CA328864A CA1149305A CA 1149305 A CA1149305 A CA 1149305A CA 000328864 A CA000328864 A CA 000328864A CA 328864 A CA328864 A CA 328864A CA 1149305 A CA1149305 A CA 1149305A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
oil
contactor
solvent
waste
refinery
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000328864A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Lee F. Robinson
John Hamilton, (Deceased)
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
RTL Contactor Holding SA
Original Assignee
RTL Contactor Holding SA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by RTL Contactor Holding SA filed Critical RTL Contactor Holding SA
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1149305A publication Critical patent/CA1149305A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01DSEPARATION
    • B01D11/00Solvent extraction
    • B01D11/02Solvent extraction of solids
    • B01D11/0288Applications, solvents

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Production Of Liquid Hydrocarbon Mixture For Refining Petroleum (AREA)
  • Extraction Or Liquid Replacement (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A process is described for the treatment of waste which includes oil and/or oil derived products, contaminated water and solids sludge. The oil constituents are solvent extracted from the waste in a continuous multi-compartment contactor in which the waste materials and a solvent move in separate phases and are brought into contact with one another by buckets rotating in the contactor. The process is applicable to waste material drawn from an oil refinery or from an oil sand lagoon.

Description

3~S

CONTACTOR PROCESS

This invention relates to the treatment of waste which includes oil and/or oil-derived products.
The disposal of waste from the extraction and processing of oil, for example from oil refineries and similar installations and during extraction of oil, for example from tar sands can be a serious problem. Thus for example oil refinery waste is usually a mixture of contaminated water, which may contain considerable quantities of oil, oil-derived products, and solid residues, resulting from the refinery processes, and from the outscourings of process vessels and storage tanks. The present practice for disposal involves the collection of all such waste materials from all the process areas in the refinery, and routing them to flow to one or more API
Separators; these consist of concrete settling chambers in which a rough and inefficient separation of oils, water and solids sludge takes place. The liquid oil and oil produc~s float to the surface and are removed by skimming, and the water, with unavoidable contained oil, overflows into a separate ~ell for discharge, or more usually, for further trea'~ment. rrhe solids which collect at the bottom of the separator are removed frGm ime to time by raking. Such a practice ;s unsatisfactory in that the separated water is not of sufficient puri-ty for reuse vr even discharge into drains and rivers, in that the oil scum needs further ^~ll'~93~5 treatment before it can be usefully returned to the refinery and in that the solids sludge cannot be readily disposed of.
The invention has as an aim the extraction of the oil and oil products in a form that can be immediately utilised, for example for reprocessing in a refinery, the separation of water free from oil, which can in some cases be discharged without further treatment, and the production of an oil-free residue which can be readily burned or dumped without danger to the environment.
The invention provides a process for treating mixed waste materials which include oil and/or oil-derived products together with contaminated water an~ solids sludge, the process comprising solvent extracting the oil constituents frcm the waste in a continuous, multi-compartment contactor in which the waste materials and a solvent move in separate phases and are brought into contact with one another by buckets ro~ating in the contactor. A suitable contactor for use in the process has been described in U.K. Patent ~pecifications Nos. 972035 and 1037573.
The invention will now be further described and exemplified with refc-rence to the accolr.panying drawings ~herein Fig~Ics 1 and 2 are d3iagra3ns illustrating processes using the present i.nvention.
In one exc-,npli3'ying process according to the inventiOn~ the waste from an oil refinery, containing water, oil and oil-derived liquid products and solids residues, are introduced, without prior treatment, into a continuous contactor through an inlet at the bottom of one end. The contactor may be as described in either of the above numbered patent specifications and has a discharge outlet at the other end. A stream of solvent, which is preferably kerosene but may be any suitable liquid hydrocarbon produced in the refinery, is continuously passed through the contactor in countercurrent entering and leaving the contactor through connections at the upper parts of the ends of the contactor. The rotor of the contactor is divided into compartments each of which carries a series of buckets. The rotor is turned at a moderate speed which is sufficiently low to prevent turbulence within the contactor.
As the waste materials pass along the contactor, the oil constituents float or are lifted by the buckets into, and are dissolved by, the solvent stream. As the rotor turns, the buc~ets repeatedly lift water containing emulsifiec oil and solids into the solvent stream and carry solvent down into the ~iaste stream, thus ensuring intimate contact of the solvent with any oil content of the water and the solids The waste stream leaving the contactor has thus been stril~ped of its oil content al-d cons;sts of clean water and solids which can be disposed of without environmental damage, or, in the case of the water, can bc 3~

reutilised in the refinery. The solvent stream containing dissolved oil stripped from the ~aste materials is returned to the refinery and is reprocessed with the crude oil feed so that no wastage of useful oil constituents occurs. The solvent is also separately recovered in the refinery processing operations, and therefore none of the solvent is lost.
A process for purifying waste from an oil refinery is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 1. Aqueous waste containing water, oil, oil-derived liquid products and solid residues, is drawn from the refinery generally indicated at 2 through line 4 to the lower left hand end of a contactor 6, which may suitably be of the type described in U.K. Patent Specifications Nos. 972035 and 1037573 and comprises a rotor 7 carrying discs 8 dividing the contactor into compartments which conil-nunicate at least at the periphery of the discs. Buckets (not shown) are mounted for rotation with discs to transfer liquid from one phase to the other phase and vice versa.
Solvent, such as kerosene, from the refinery is delivered to tne upper -rigrt -~and end of the contactor on line 10. The solvent and aqueous phase are contacted by rotation of the huckets while maintaining an interface between the pha,es. Solvent carrying oil and oil-based pfoducts stripped froni the aqueous phase leaves the corltactor on ~ine ]2 and is returned to tile refinery 2, 193~5 possibly after mixing with crude oil on line 14. The aqueous phase from which the oil has been stripped is withdrawn on line 16 and, if necessary treated in processing unit 18 to remove residual solids on line 20.
The clean water, stripped of its oil content can then be passed on line 21 to the refinery for use or passed into the environment on line 22.
Refinery waste materials can be treated in this way with the minimum of labour, the supply of waste to, and the disposal of the residues from, the contactor being performed mechanically and automatically. The process has the further substantial advantage that the contactor is capable of treating waste materials supplied at any rate within a relatively wide range and without alteration of the operating pararnete-s. It is thus able to deal with surges and minimum flows of ~aste caused by .he exiyencies of the normal refinery operations.
In a further exe~mplifying process accordiny to the invention, a contactor as described above is nsed in the trea.ment of la~oons containing oil and/or oil products such as oil sands lagoons, fo-r eia~p1e as formed in the oil s~ld areas of Canada. Such layoons contain -u~aste p-roducts from the h3t ~alf-r pre!cfss for exlractillg bitumen from oil ~.nds -nd corl-tain re]3tively sma]l (~uantities of bit~ln-len ,~5 nd r~-~yeA-Ii:s ;n )-~lati-~iely ]ar-ge voluilles of ~;~ater. rl`he cont~ s of s~h Jayoons can be tr:eated ky p.-~ssing .!lem 3~75 through a contaictor as described above in countercurrent with a stream of suitable solvent sueh as kerosene, to solvent extraet bitumen and other oil-eontaining eonstituents of the ponds, and to diseharge oil-free water baek to the environment.
The eontents of oil sands lagoons are usually alkaline, whereas the solvent extraetion proeess using kerosene generally requires the liquid passed through the eontaetor to be approximately neutral. Aeeordingly the liquid from the lagoons may have aeid, preferably dilute hydroehlorie aeid, added to it prior to entry to the eontaetor. The aeidity of the aqueous phase within the eontaetor is ~onitored along the length of the eontaetor by means of probes in the wall of the contactor drum below the interface between the aqueous and organic phases, and further acid is automatically injected through nozzls in the drum in accordance with the measured pH readinys to ensure that the aqueous phase is neutral or acid throughout its travel thL-ough t`;e cont~ctor.
2C A process ~or treating oil sands laclool-ls is illustcra.ed diagrammatically in Figu:e 2, which sho~v~s an oil s~nds lagoon 24 from,~7llich is ~ i!-,ciL-a~:n ~asle containin(j ,T~]l quant;,t3.~ s o~ it:i3iTi''n in -~el.-l-',ively ~arge vol~ s o~ a!-er. '~ e oil--,o;-,t~ d ~-~ r is dr-a~n froin ;I,e ~-,;o;n ~I-d r);;,~ d Vi? Iine '3 ~0 i he l)o~'olr ]--ft--iand c~ d o,' a cout~3clor 30 s-ilni1ar ~o c~ tac,o- 6 shc~;n in ~ gure l. 1~ solv- n'c i~or the oil conta~ nants, ;ll(`h as 93~5 kerosene, is passed to the upper right hand end of the contactor on line 32. As the solvent and aqueous streams pass countercurrent through the contactor, the oil contaminants are passed to the solvent stream and solvent plus oil are withdrawn cn line 34. Solvent can be recovered in ~nit 36 and recycled on line 38 to line 32 while waste oil products are withdrawn on line 40. Aqueous waste, from which the oil contaminants have been removed, is withdrawn from the contactor on line 42 and passed to the environment.
In order to maintain the contents of the contactor approximately neutral, acid, suitably hydrochloric acid, is fed to line 28 on line 44 ~r, in addition or alternatively, is fed on lines 46 to nozzles 47 in the walls of the contactor 30. Probes 48, spaced at inter~als along the contactor 30, monitor the acidi.ty OL the aqueons phase and the addition of hydrochloric acid throuyh line 44 or through the nozzles 47 is apvropriately cont-ro~.led to main~ain the contents of the contactor at neutral or acid p~-rrhe invention rnay o. course also he applied to other oil and/or oil p-:oduct co~ ainil-g lagoons SUC11 aS those bi'ilii,en cGntai!~ .3 lL1 oor~s obtai!led in l~rea'.)i~ t ~ nts for i-i c~v~ oil '~ ,t l~p ~r~ ^.c,~ J.r~ d ~ c.-~t ~ d~or ~5 ~ m.
In ei!~ he~ GL ;he .-,!,ovc- e~e~npliEyirl(3 proce-.ses a di.~-ipersing or .-eflGcculating agellt Inay be ac~dcd '~:o a~asi.st 93(~5 in settling out of solid residues in the waste. Suitable deflocculants include ammonium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate and other commercially available dispersants such as that known under the Trade Name DISPEX. A suitable feed range of 0.05 to 0.5~i by weight based on the solids content. Alternatively, or in addition to the use of dispersing agent, a suitable hydrophobic collector reagent may be added to the contactor to assist in collection of impurities in the waste at the interfacial layer between the two liquid phases, from which the impurities (which may contain desirable values) may be separately withdrawn. A wide range of suitable collectors may be used such as oleic acid, linoleic acid, various fatty acids and sulphonates, salts and soaps thereof.
suitable feed range is 0.02 to O.l~i by weight based on the solids content. Alternatively, or in addition, collectors in the form of activator ;.ons may be used, such as metallic oxides, chlorides or sulphates, for exaJnple, calcium, maf,jnesiuln or barium chloride. The dispersillg agent may conveniently be introduced with the ac~ueous waste prior to i.njecL-ion into ~he contactor while the col]ector Inay conveni~ntly be int.oduc~fd with ~he solvent or even at ;nterva].s along t~ e leny1h of tlle contactor. Thus .or ex~i,ple, a collccior reagfnt ,i~ay be uscd io co~i partic].es of he-à~;y me!-al ca~.lj;st Lires~n, in l-he w.--ste, ~hich c.talyst se.t.l.cs at the intel.facial .lay-r and can be withdra~n for r~u;e.

Claims (9)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A process for treating mixed waste materials which include material selected from oil and oil-derived products together with contaminated water and solids sludge, comprising:
passing the waste and a solvent in separate streams through a continuous, multi-compartment contactor in which the waste materials and solvent move in separate phases, and bringing the phases into contact with one another by means of buckets rotating in the contactor, whereby the solvent extracts the oil constituents from the waste.
2. The process of claim 1, comprising introducing said waste and solvent into the contactor so that they flow in countercurrent through the compartments.
3. The process of claim 1, wherein the waste material is drawn from an oil refinery.
4. A process for treating mixed waste materials drawn from an oil refinery, which include material selected from oil and oil-derived products together with contaminated water and solids sludge, comprising:
withdrawing solvent and said mixed waste materials separately from said refinery;

passing the waste and a solvent in separate streams through a continuous, multi-compartment contactor in which the waste materials and solvent move in separate phases, bringing the phases into contact with one another by means of buckets rotating in the contactor, whereby the solvent extracts the oil constituents from the waste, and returning recovered solvent and optionally recovered oil constituents to said refinery.
5. The process of claim 4, wherein the solvent is kerosene.
6. The process of claim 1, wherein the waste material is drawn from an oil sand lagoon.
7. The process of claim 6, wherein the solent is kerosene.
8. The process of claim 1, further comprising adding a deflocculating agent to the contactor.
9. The process of claim 1 further comprising adding a hydrophobic collector reagent to the contactor and removing impurities from the interfacial layer in the contactor.
CA000328864A 1978-05-31 1979-05-30 Contactor process Expired CA1149305A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB25151/78 1978-05-31
GB2515178 1978-05-31

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1149305A true CA1149305A (en) 1983-07-05

Family

ID=10223067

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000328864A Expired CA1149305A (en) 1978-05-31 1979-05-30 Contactor process

Country Status (2)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1149305A (en)
DE (1) DE2921654A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3610199A1 (en) * 1986-03-26 1987-10-01 Wessling Erwin Chem Lab Process for cleaning soils contaminated with pollutants
DE3633699A1 (en) * 1986-10-03 1988-04-14 Still Carl Gmbh Co Kg METHOD FOR TREATING CONTAMINATED EARTH
DE3724779A1 (en) * 1987-07-25 1989-02-02 Frank Lorenz Process for treating contaminated soils and apparatus for carrying out the process

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE2921654A1 (en) 1979-12-06

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US3707464A (en) Process for clarifying an oil-solids contaminated aqueous stream
RU2337938C1 (en) Installation and method for carbon extraction form solid source
US2766203A (en) Water purification process and apparatus
JP6120427B2 (en) Ultrafine bubble cleaning method using liquid containing ultrafine bubbles, apparatus and pressurized flotation device
US3875046A (en) Recovery of oil from tar sand by an improved extraction process
CN109574458A (en) A kind of processing method and processing device of oily sludge
KR101758594B1 (en) Select operation possible type rise and precipitation integrated waste water treatment system
GB2214503A (en) Method of removing water soluble organics from oil process water
KR101782615B1 (en) Contaminated soil remediation system and remediation method having the same
US4350596A (en) Method and apparatus for recovering waste oil
CN107522310A (en) Not agent-feeding treatment oil-polluted water re-injection technique
CN209555035U (en) A kind of processing unit of oily sludge
CN1304309C (en) Process of flowing multistage chemical thermo-dynamic for cleaning mud oil-containing
RU2698667C1 (en) Method for processing oil-containing sludge and technological complex for its implementation
CA1149305A (en) Contactor process
CN104291542A (en) Equipment and method for clearing away and recovering sludge at bottom of crude oil storage tank
FI104469B (en) A method for recovering organic material from solvent extraction processes
JPH10500147A (en) Method and apparatus for removing impurities from oil
DE3873157T2 (en) TREATMENT OF OILY WASTEWATER.
JPH09176659A (en) Method for purifying oil-containing sludge
CN107879570B (en) Method and device for treating aged oil sludge of super-heavy oil
CN1344593A (en) Oil-sand separating process
RU2372439C1 (en) Method for neutralisation and utilisation of rubble and/or asbestos ballast siftings
CN110937770A (en) Reduction treatment process for oily sludge
US4274948A (en) Separation of minerals

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
MKEX Expiry