The petroleum refining industry uses a wide range of processes, from separation, petroleum conversion and petroleum treatment to waste water management.
Each of these processes has its own challenges and all are made more complex by the variety of products and contaminants in the process. Two key areas, from the water management perspective, are cooling water and waste water treatment.
Cooling Water
Cooling water is used extensively in the refinery industry, transferring waste heat to the atmosphere. Contaminants enter the cooling water system from leaking heat exchangers and condensers. Control of cooling water emissions is accomplished by reducing contamination of cooling water through the proper maintenance of heat exchangers and condensers.
The EX-S and EX-P analysers from INOV8 Systems are ideally placed to give early identification of leaks in the cooling water. The ability to accurately detect low concentrations of hydrocarbons ensures that leaks can be managed before they become harmful.
The spectroscopy feature of the analysers can be used to identify different oil types and therefore provide additional information about the contaminant.
Waste Water Treatment
As part of the refining process a significant volume of waste water is generated. This water effluent must be treated before it can be discharged. Given the wide variety of refinery pollutants, including oils, chemicals and dissolved solids, it is important that the appropriate water treatment process is applied at each stage.
With its analysers, INOV8 Systems can detect not only the concentrations of oil (in ppm), but provide the spectra of the water composition – allowing for detection of various chemicals in addition to different oils.