Regional Spotlight Middle east & africa
The pilot study scope included an evaluation of RO filtration of the system
effluent to determine if the system produced longer RO run times by
minimizing membrane fouling and reducing clean-in-place requirements
Reusing RefineRy wastewateR:
the MBr approach in saudi araBia
a trial at a refinery in Saudi
arabia has led to the development
of a mBR-based technology to
help with the reuse of wastewater
from the petroleum industry. this
article examines the trial results
from the membrane evaluation
of processing this tough to treat
industrial water.
By William Cunningham
W
astewater from oil-processing
facilities presents a number
of challenges for owners and
operators contemplating reuse of treated
wastewater. The oily wastewater often
has a high concentration of dissolved
solids that must be removed before
reuse as boiler feed water, cooling water
and utility water.
Difficult-to-degrade (refractory)
organic compounds are also present
in refinery wastewater and these
compounds must first be removed to
protect reverse osmosis (RO) equipment
designed to remove the dissolved solids.
Typical biological oxidation methods
used to treat these wastewaters often
provide inadequate removal of oils
and difficult-to-degrade organic
compounds, resulting in organic
fouling problems in the downstream
ultrafiltration (UF) and RO membrane
filtration systems.
WaSteWateR tReatment in the
oil and gaS induStRy
The petroleum industry traditionally uses
very large quantities of water. Refineries,
for instance, discharge approximately
one-half to one barrel of wastewater for
every barrel of crude oil that is processed.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to
reduce that figure further because water
is an essential component in the refining
process. The crude oil distillation tower
at the heart of most modern refineries
depends on water as a heat exchange
mechanism. Water is also used to
provide steam as a power source and for
washing or desalting crude.
It should come as no surprise that
meeting this fresh water requirement
through a RO desalination process,
and transporting this water to the
refineries, is becoming cost-prohibitive
for companies like Saudi Arabian oil
company - Saudi Aramco.
The companys policy of minimizing
the extraction of groundwater and
the use (and associated expense) of
desalinated seawater for process water
use, led them to actively investigate
sustainable methods and technologies
that will allow wastewater reuse,
either as cooling water makeup and/
or boiler feed water. Typically, RO
treatment of biologically treated effluent
is required for reuse. However this
leads to excessive organic fouling of RO
membranes due to recalcitrant COD
remaining in the treated effluent.
An investigation into combining
activated carbon with microbiology
led to the development of the EcoRight
System from Saudi Aramco and Siemens
Water Solutions. The system relies on
Siemens Petro Membrane Bioreactor
(MBR) technology, modified to allow the
aeration tank mixed liquor suspended
solids (MLSS) to operate with suspended
granular activated carbon (GAC).
Regional Spotlight Middle east & africa

q Process flow illustration: osmosis operation without requiring

CIP procedures.
Upstream Biomass + Granular Isolation Device No damage to the system membrane
Deoiling Activated Carbon UF fibres was observed during the
Membranes
membrane autopsy conducted at the
Wastewater Treated Effluent end of the study, indicating that:
Feed The screen system was effective at
keeping the granular carbon in the
aeration tank and preventing contact
with the membrane fibers in the MOS
tank
The ability to keep the granular
WAS
carbon segregated from the membrane
fibres increases membrane life over
WAS and Waste Carbon powdered carbon MBR systems by
eliminating carbon-related membrane
Biofilm abrasion potential
Bio-regeneration of the granular
activated carbon likely contributed
to reduced activated carbon
pilot Study the system produced longer RO run consumption.
Siemens contracted with Saudi Aramco times by minimizing membrane fouling tReated eFFluent uSe
to perform a pilot study using the and reducing clean-in-place (CIP) The pilot study results have
requirements.
in Most cases, the The EcoRight pilot unit was operated
demonstrated the system to be a cost-
effective solution for treating refinery
treated effluent over a 319 day period. Even after
extraordinary variable discharges
wastewater targeted for reuse.
Membrane abrasion is eliminated
Can Be ReuSed of oil and grease and COD loading,
and frequent power interruptions,
by separating the granular activated
carbon from microbiology prior to the
or fed to ro the system effluent complied with all
discharge standards, indicating that this
membrane tank.
By using a very stable system,
eQuipMent for technology has the capacity to process it results in lower contaminant
upsets and quickly return to normal
ReuSe aS Feed operating conditions.
concentrations in the treated effluent,
allowing the wastewater to be
oR Cooling Recalcitrant COD and Extracellular
Polymeric Substances (EPS), which
economically and efficiently sent
for further treatment for reuse, or to
WateR typically foul UF and RO membranes,
were successfully removed. This was
provide a high quality water to meet
most discharge requirements. In most
system to treat wastewater from a Saudi
demonstrated by nearly eight months cases, the treated effluent can be reused,
Aramco refinery. The pilot study scope
of system operation, and more than or fed directly to RO equipment for
included an evaluation of RO filtration
two and a half months of reverse reuse as boiler feed or cooling water, all
of the system effluent to determine if
while meeting stringent environmental
discharge requirements.
q Average Influent and Effluent Constituent Concentrations and Percent Reduction During the Post Acclimation Period (1) Development of the system by Saudi
Aramco and Siemens has provided a
Feed Effluent % Reduction
new opportunity to recover and reuse
cod, mg/l 475 89 81 an existing water supply to reduce the
impact on desalination facilities and the
Bod5, mg/l 140 3.8 97
local fresh water supply.
toc, mg/l 92 8.5 91

nh3-n, mg/l 16 0.7 96

William J. Cunningham, p.e.
is the manager of biological processes and
(1) this data was collected during the period when the chiller was operating to reduce the activated sludge
products for the water solutions business unit
system temperature to below 32c. of siemens energys oil and Gas sector. email:
williamj.cunningham@siemens.com

Reprinted with revisions to format, from the February/March 2014 edition of Water & Wastewater International
Copyright 2014 by PennWell Corporation

Siemens Water Solutions

Phone: +1.715.359.7211
www.siemens.com/energy/water-solutions