Energy and Resource Utilization of Refining Industry Oil Sludge by Microwave Treatment

Abstract

The oily sludge from crude oil contains hazardous BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene) found in the bottom sediment of the crude oil tank in the petroleum refining plant. This study uses microwave treatment of the oily sludge to remove BTEX by utilizing the heat energy generated by the microwave. The results show that when the oily sludge sample was treated for 60 s under microwave power from 200 to 300 W, the electric field energy absorbed by the sample increased from 0.17 to 0.31 V/m and the temperature at the center of the sludge sample increased from 66.5 °C to 96.5 °C. In addition, when the oily sludge was treated for 900 s under microwave power 300 W, the removal rates were 98.5% for benzene, 62.8% for toluene, 51.6% for ethylbenzene, and 29.9% for xylene. Meanwhile, the highest recovery rates of light volatile hydrocarbons in sludge reached 71.9% for C3, 71.3% for C4, 71.0% for C5, and 78.2% for C6.