NAFTOS PRODUKTŲ GARAVIMO EKSPERIMENTINIAI TYRIMAI / EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS EVAPORATION

Abstract

Oil products are usually released into the environment during transportation of oil, from storage, oil bases or accidents, accounting for about 60% of total soil pollution. Heavy metals, phenols, cyanides, aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene) also enter the soil together with oil products. After the contamination enters the soil, it affects the pH of the soil, the activity of the biota weakens due to the toxic elements that react with oxygen, the soil degradation increases. In the course of the dissemination of these pollutants, not only the soil, but also groundwater is contaminated – pollution by oil products and heavy metals creates 53% of all groundwater pollution. The aim of the research is to determine the lowest possible optimal temperature by choosing the temperature range of the heating temperature (100−300 °C) and to investigate the dependence of evaporation of oil products on the heating time. The minimum temperature is required to preserve the soil’s properties, reduce the amount of energy used and the cost of the method. During the heat treatment of the selected oil products, the vapor passes through the condenser and is collected in the form of a liquid, avoiding leaks, which is a safe way if toxic substances are potentially exposed at the site of heating (the method safely removes pollutants from mixtures). It has been established that in the temperature range 250−300 °C, clean oil evaporates intensively and achieve 90.1−97.1% efficiency over 2 hours and the maximum evaporation rate is at the first hour, in the case of used oil, an efficiency of 38.6−60.6% is achieved and vapor intensity at maximum after 2 hours of evaporation. This heating technology can be used to clean heavy soil fractions from contaminated oil products, and comparatively low temperatures (250−300 °C) will have less harm to soil properties than high-temperature methods (burning, glazing, pyrolysis).