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Advances in Biological Treatment of Industrial Waste Water and their Recycling for a Sustainable Future pp 303–332Cite as

Treatment and Recycling of Wastewater from Oil Refinery/Petroleum Industry

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Abstract

Petroleum refinery effluents (PRE) are generally the wastes generated from industries primarily engaged in refining crude oil, manufacturing fuels, lubricants and petrochemical intermediates. These effluents or wastewater, generated, are considered as a major source of aquatic environmental pollution. The effluents are mainly composed of oil, grease and many other toxic organic compounds. The process of crude oil refining consumes large volume of water. Consequently, significant volume of wastewater is generated. The requirement of water depends upon on the size, crude products and complexity of operation. Petroleum refining units need water for distillation, desalting, thermal cracking, catalytic and treatment processes in order to produce useful products such as LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), gasoline, asphalt, diesel, jet fuel, petroleum feedstock etc. Wastewater generated through petroleum refineries contains various hydrocarbons. It has been estimated that the demand for world oil is expected to rise to 107 mbpd (million barrels per day) in the next two decades. By 2030 oil will account for 32% of the world’s energy supply. The increasing demand of oil clearly shows that effluents produced from the oil industry will continue to be produced and discharged into the water bodies. The pollutants found in the effluent are seriously toxic and hazardous to the environment. Techniques used for effluent treatment include adsorption, coagulation, chemical oxidation, biological techniques as well as contemporary technologies like membranes and microwave-assisted catalytic wet air oxidation and Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) like heterogeneous photo-catalytic degradation which is based on its potential to completely mineralize the organic effluents beside being cost effective, readily available and the catalyst used itself is non-toxic in nature. The review provides a detailed description on nature of effluent or wastewater produced from the oil refinery units, its discharge into the water bodies, toxicological effects of the effluent on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem and the various treatment technologies designed for the treatment and recycling of wastewater generated during operation.

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  1. Department of Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India

    Shailja Singh &  Shikha

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  1. Shailja Singh
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  1. Department of Biochemistry, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ram Lakhan Singh

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Rajat Pratap Singh

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Singh, S., Shikha (2019). Treatment and Recycling of Wastewater from Oil Refinery/Petroleum Industry. In: Singh, R., Singh, R. (eds) Advances in Biological Treatment of Industrial Waste Water and their Recycling for a Sustainable Future. Applied Environmental Science and Engineering for a Sustainable Future. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1468-1_10

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