Mineral oils: processes and products – Treatment of refining sludge
Patent
1995-09-14
1998-12-29
Yildirim, Berkir L.
Mineral oils: processes and products
Treatment of refining sludge
208179, 208186, 208187, 210768, 210772, 210787, C10G 2100
Patent
active
058535632
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Decoupling the association of the petroleum component in waste petroleum to contaminants therein by a combination of solvent and ultrasonic treatments. A variety of separations techniques isolate environmentally safe petroleum and solids contaminants.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Dotting the earth are waste petroleum deposits.sup.1 ranging from "mountains" of plastic bags loaded with waste petroleum sludges heaped on a half square mile area of Singapore's Pulau Sebarok, residues stored in tanks or slops taken from vessels, to the vast Orinoco asphalt deposits in Venezuela and Trinidad. All but the Orinoco deposits are manmade. The Orinoco deposit is a product of nature. Singapore's sludges, taken from ship's storage tanks, varies in composition from bag to bag. They are there because Singapore's authorities have not found a cost effective method to dispose of them. Incinerating any sludge or other form of waste petroleum is not cost effective or environmentally acceptable because of the necessity of dealing with NO.sub.x, SO.sub.x and heavy metal emissions. Westwardly are Bahrain's seven pitch ponds having a total area of seventy thousand square meters loaded with black petroleum residues dumped by a refinery in 1938-1942. The only changes to this resting pitch body over the years are those gently wrought by natural forces, such as dusting over by desert sands, evaporation by the searing Asia Minor (Middle East) heat and deposition of rain water and migrated sea water. This "Bahrain pitch" has been a serious environmental problem for all these years. ranging from crude to refined oil and asphalt materials ranging from asphalt created by nature's deposition of oil and man's deposit of oil and includes oil slop, tank cleaning water, tank residues, black oil residues, oil sludge from petroleum carriers, and the like.
Like conditions, with obvious modifications, exist throughout the world. Hardly a country is exempt. Many refineries refuse to acknowledge their waste petroleum problems. Others have made limited attempts to deal with them. In many cases, the problem derives from refineries depositing the waste petroleum in landfills. Eventually, this method results in ground water spoilage with the deposited waste petroleum taking on an even greater B, S & W (basic sediment and water) content, which only compounds the recovery issues. Where the level of pollution is vast and its correction costly, many polluters rely on political manipulations either to delay dealing with it or transferring the cost to the public.
Waste petroleum deposits frequently take on unplanned complications. For example, Singapore's authorities bagged the sludges for containment but with time, stored bags became damaged causing petroleum to ooze into the ground. That requires treatment of the earth under the bags for removal of the petroleum deposited. Other waste deposits in landfills end up with petroleum mixed with large amounts of water. In that case, there are two or more types of waste petroleum, e.g., one with high solids content and another with high water content.
There are many potential techniques, chemical and engineering, for safely eliminating waste petroleum. Until this invention, no one or combination of techniques, has provided a complete solution that is economically viable. The difficulty in solving this pollution problem is tied to a number of factors. Most of the waste petroleum has a variable composition, which impacts on the efficiency of the steps of the processes. Typically, each step is designed for a certain waste petroleum composition. That step becomes less efficient when the composition is materially altered. Additionally, waste petroleum deposits frequently become dumping grounds for a host of materials that typically are found in a common waste ("garbage") deposit. Even where the waste petroleum is relatively homogeneous as is the case with Bahrain pitch, the variability of composition is still sufficiently great to adversely affect efficiency of separation of impuritie
REFERENCES:
patent: 3696021 (1972-10-01), Cole et al.
patent: 3951779 (1976-04-01), Anderson
patent: 4054505 (1977-10-01), Hart, Jr. et al.
patent: 4054506 (1977-10-01), Hart, Jr. et al.
patent: 4495057 (1985-01-01), Amirjafari et al.
patent: 4648964 (1987-03-01), Leto et al.
patent: 4875998 (1989-10-01), Rendall
patent: 4954267 (1990-09-01), Uremovich
patent: 5156751 (1992-10-01), Miller
patent: 5186817 (1993-02-01), Paspek et al.
Needham Antony Hugh
Ripley Ian Stanley
LandOfFree
Treatment of waste petroleum does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Treatment of waste petroleum, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Treatment of waste petroleum will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1420569