The Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC) in Saskatchewan, Canada, has nearly reached its goal of cleaning over two million gallons of wastewater every day. When the Wastewater Improvement Project becomes fully operational, CRC will be the only North American refinery recycling all of its wastewater, with two-thirds of it going into steam production.
A special blend of live bacteria eats the impurities in the wastewater ponds. Spaghetti-like, hollow strands of “Zee Weed” filter wastewater to remove suspended solids. The system then employs high-efficiency reverse osmosis to clean wastewater for steam production, using GE technology.
Sixty-five per cent of the recycled water goes into steam production, with the remaining recycled water being reused in other processes such as cooling and hydrogen production. After being recycled multiple times, water that can no longer be recycled is disposed of in deep wells, including any excess brine. The overall result is a significant reduction in both water usage and emissions from volatile organic compounds, which has the added benefit of reducing odours.
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Technology to clean refinery wastewater
VATIS UPDATE Part
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