Simulating behavior of petroleum compounds during refinery effluent treatment using the SimpleTreat model

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Fate Modeling

Background:

• Multimedia fate models like SimpleTreat predict chemical distribution and elimination in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).
• Refinery WWTPs often include advanced processes like dissolved air flotation (DAF) not typically in standard models.
• Accurate modeling of petroleum product removal is crucial for environmental risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a WWTP removal model that integrates dissolved air flotation (DAF) treatment.
• To assess the impact of including DAF on predicted concentrations of petroleum constituents in effluent.
• To compare the performance of the new WWTP-DAF model against the original SimpleTreat model.

Main Methods:

• Modified the SimpleTreat model by replacing the primary sedimentation module with a DAF simulation module.
• Compared predicted removal efficiencies for over 1500 hydrocarbon constituents using the original and the new WWTP-DAF models.
• Validated model predictions against existing literature data on measured removal rates.

Main Results:

• The WWTP-DAF model predicted significantly higher removal of volatile petroleum constituents due to increased air-water exchange.
• On average, predicted removal with DAF was 17% greater compared to removal with primary sedimentation.
• Model refinements align well with literature data, enhancing the technical basis for petroleum product assessment.

Conclusions:

• Integrating DAF into WWTP fate models substantially improves the accuracy of petroleum constituent removal predictions.
• The developed WWTP-DAF model offers a more robust tool for assessing environmental risks associated with refinery effluents.
• This refined modeling approach enhances the scientific basis for managing petroleum products in industrial wastewater.