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ABSTRACT
The waste water effluents from various wastewater generation and treatment units of
the Refinery were collected as samples and analyzed to determine their physical and
biological properties and thereby to assess the efficiency of treatment received in each
treatment units. The oil and grease content of the open channel was recorded as
significantly high with a value of 7.5mg/l suggesting a contamination to the
observation pond. The sedimentation tank reduced the amount of TDS from raw water
(process, caustic and sanitary wastewater) from 668 to 336mg/l. The predominant
microorganisms were staphylococcus spp. and E. coli.
INTRODUCTION
The Refining Company converts Nigeria crude oil into refined products such as
liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, kerosene, aviation fuel, diesel fuel, fuel oils and
feedstocks for the petrochemical industry. Petroleum refinery activities start with
receipt of crude for storage at the refinery, include all petroleum handling and refining
operations, and they terminate with storage preparatory to removal of the refined
products from the refinery by tankers or pumping to depots by pipeline.
. If untreated wastewater is allowed to accumulate, the decomposition of the organic
materials it contains can lead to the production of large quantities of malodorous
gases. In addition, untreated wastewater usually contains numerous pathogenic, or
disease –causing, microorganisms that dwell in the human intestinal tract or that may
be present in certain industrial waste. Wastewater also contains nutrients, which can
stimulate the growth of aquatic plants in addition to toxic compounds1. Studies have
been carried out on the toxicity of oil, oil spill chemicals and industrial waste water (effluent)
on different aquatic organisms including those in Nigeria2.
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1
Ojuola, E.A.; Onuoha, G.C. (1981): The effect of liquid petroleum refinery effluent on
fingerlings of sarotherodon melanotheron (ruppel 1852) and oreochromis niloticus
(linnaeus 1757). FAO Corporate Document ARAC/87/WP/8 1987
2
Ajao et al (1981)
1
For these reasons, the immediate and nuisance – free removal of waste water from its
source of generation followed by treatment and disposal is not only desirable but also
necessary in an industrialized society2. Methods or treatment equipments in which the
application of physical forces dominates are known as unit operations. Methods of
treatment in which the removal of contaminants is brought about by chemical or
biological reactions are known as unit processes. In primary treatment, physical
operations such as screening and sedimentation are used to remove the floating and
settleable solids found in wastewater. In secondary treatment, biological and chemical
processes are used to remove most of the organic matter2. It has been reported by that
the rotary biodisk, having a long residence time, would habour bacteria that have had
sufficient time to acclimatize to degrade phenol fast and at a higher concentration.
It mainly contains oil and BOD elements. Oil is removed by an oil separator while
BOD elements are removed by BIO treatment system and change to BIO sludge2.
b. Oily Sewer Water:- The oily sewer water consists of rain water which has
fallen in possible oil contaminated pave areas and drain water from vessels,
pumps, tanks, etc. it mainly contains oil and suspended solids. Oil is removed
by Dissolved Air Floating (DAF) system, and changed to BIO sludge.
c. Ballast Water:- The ballast water from tankers mainly contains oil and
suspended solids.
1
Tchobanoglous, G. and Burton, F. L (1991): Chemical Unit Processes, Wastewater
rd
Engineering, Treatment, Disposal and Reuse”. 3 edition, McGraw Hill International Editions,
Singapore, pp.316-317.
2
Ajao, E. A.; Oyewo, E: O. and Orekoya, T. (1981). The Effect of Oil Formation Water on Some
Marine Organisms. 2pp. In Proceedings of An International Seminar on the Petroleum Industry and
The Nigerian Environment
2
f. Clean Water system:- The following clean water which does not require
further treatment is discharged to the observation pond directly;
g. Dimersol Effluent:- This waste which comes from the Dimersol Unit contains
suspended solids.
The wastewater treatment equipment consists of water clarifying system and sludge
treatment system. The wastewater system is divided into the following two (2)
categories: 1) Process water, sanitary water and caustic spent water are treated by
biological treatment; 2) Oily rain water and ballast water are treated by dissolved air
floating treatment.
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beaker was washed with chromic acid to remove greases. The beaker was then
washed with water, dried at 1200C, cooled in a desiccator to room temperature and
weighed (WI). 25ml of filtered sample was introduced into the beaker and left to dry
in the oven. The beaker and content were left to cool in a desicator to room
temperature and weighed (W2). The dissolved solid content was obtained as:
W 2 W 1 *106
DissolvedSolids (mg / I )
Vol .ofSample
200ml of sample was placed in a separating flask and 40ml of CCL4 was added and
the flask shaken. Then gas was release and he system left so that two layers of liquid
got formed. The upper (solvent) layer was separated into an already weighed 100ml
beaker (WA), through a filter paper containing anhydrous salt, NaSO 3 (to absorb any
water) and dried at 500C. It is cooled in a desicator and weighed again (WB). Oil
content was obtained as:
Identification of isolates
Isolates were identified by standard microbiological and biochemical test procedures
according to Bergey’s Manual3. Basic microbiological tests undertaken included:
gram-staining test, motility test and test for the presence of endospore, while
biochemical tests included catalase, oxidase, indole, citrate utilization, methyl-red,
Voges – proskauer, kligler iron agar, carbohydrate fermentation, coagulase and starch
hydrolysis tests. The BOD5 was obtained by incubation the sample a 20oC for 5 days
and monitoring the decreases in oxygen concentration as dissolved oxygen using
Hanna DO meter (Hanna Instruments, UK)
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The oil content in the effluent stream from wastewater pit has been reduced from
10mg/I (process water) to 8mg/I., although the wastewater pit receives and mixes
process wastewater, caustic wastewater and sanitary waste water. The aim is to skim
as much oil as possible from the influents so that microbial activity in the RBC would
not be hindered.
The microorganisms in the RBC feed on hydrocarbon substrate thereby reducing the
contaminants. The influent stream to the RBC has the following measured parameters,
oil (8mg/I), TDS (624mg/I). BOD (21.46mg/I) reduced tremendously to oil
(205mg/I), TDS (396mg/I), and BOD (13.37mg/). It means that the microorganisms
found in the RBC which include staphylococcus spp and E. coli had approximately
right environment for microbial activity which include manually added nutrient such
as phosphorous.
From the profile of Figure 4.1., the oil content of the open channel is tremendously
high (7.5mg/I). This wastewater from the open channel is not treated because it is
designed to contain clean water such as blown down and condensate, etc. the oil
content is high because of channeling wrong drainage into it; as a result it
contaminates the observation pond with excessive oil content.
The DAF is a physical method treatment unit that uses pressurized dissolve air to
remove dissolved solids as scum a combination of oily and ballast wastewater. The
TDS increased from 285mg/I to 308mg/I while the oil content dropped from 9.5mg/I
to 6mg/I.
The treated wastewater has a high TDS content of 336mg/I although, it did not go
above the regulation limit. It has an oil content of 4mg/I which can be reduced further
if that from the DAF treatment system is reduced.
The observation pond collects treated wastewater from both the biological and DAF
systems. As the name implies, it stores the treated wastewater for observation before
been discharged to surrounding surface water (streams, rivers). Its oil content is
slightly higher than that of treated wastewater.
CONCLUSION
The Port Harcourt Refining Company wastewater has been characterized in terms of
physical, chemical and biological parameters. The concentrations which these
parameters depended on certain factors that affect their availability and abundance.
Some microorganisms expected to be found in the type of effluent were absent. For
instance, Pseudomonas spp, an important and common microorganism found in this
type of effluent were absent. A contributing factor to this may be the non availability
of essential nutrients for their survival. In all these, the measured parameters meet the
FEPA standards.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Although the measured parameters meet regulatory standards, there are short falls that
need to be corrected.
The RBC should be checked regularly to feed the microorganisms with nutrient and
replace or clean clogged disks for effective air penetration.
A physical treatment unit should be in place just for the open channel to remove any
excess oil and suspended solids. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) should be used to
further treat the effluent wastewater before it is discharged to the river.
REFERENCES
1
Tchobanoglous, G. and Burton, F. L (1991): Chemical Unit Processes,
Wastewater Engineering, Treatment, Disposal and Reuse”. 3 rd edition,
McGraw Hill International Editions, Singapore, pp.316-317.
2
Ajao, E. A.; Oyewo, E: O. and Orekoya, T. (1981). The Effect of Oil
Formation Water on Some Marine Organisms. 2pp. In Proceedings of An
International Seminar on the Petroleum Industry and The Nigerian
Environment
3
Altas, M. R.; Bartha R.(1993): Microbial Ecology Fundamentals and
Applications Third Edition. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company,
Inc. New York, p.383-385.
4
Jacobs Consultancy (2002): Water Pollution Prevention Opportunities in
Petroleum Refineries Ecology Production No 02-07-012; Washington State
Department of Ecology.
6
Film of microorganisms
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