WATER PINCH TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION TO MINIMIZE SULPHUROUSWASTEWATER IN ANOIL REFINERY

Abstract

In oil refining industries there is a high water consumption, which influences the highproduction costs and impactsthe environment due tothe dischargeof their wastes. It isknown that there are no technologicalconditions for the reuse of industrial water at theoil refineries, based on hydroskimming processes. The objective of this study is toimplement the process integrationmethodology, Water Pinch, to a sour water stripperunit, as a unitary process of an oil refinery, to minimize the amount of sulphurous wastewater and reduce contamination of the bay that receives these wastes. The technology isappliedto evaluate the volume ofsulphurouswastewater generated in the Cienfuegosoil refinery. This technology allows identifyingopportunities for recoveryand reuse ofwater, based onconcentration ranges of contaminants. To achieve this purpose, a sourwater stripper tower wasassessedwiththe help of Water Pinch software, whichprovidedan optimized distribution network, asaproposed technologicalimprovement.This facilitatedtorecover and reuse667 757,28 m3of water per year, and1 035 023,78 CUCwere saved, at the same time the amount of polluting effluentsdecreased inapproximately 2% of non-reusable treated water.