Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2003-0074-0868
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2004-08-17T04:00Z

1
TELECON
Call
To:
Tom
Schultz,
Vice
President
of
HPI/
CPI
Marketing
and
Sales
for
USFilter
(
262)
521­
8483
Call
From:
Jill
Lucy,
ERG,
Inc.
Project:
National
Strategy:
304(
m)
Detailed
Studies
Charge
Number:
0172.01.005.063
Date:
December
2,
2003
Subject:
Wastewater
Treatment
Technologies
for
the
Petrochemical
Industry
I
contacted
Tom
Schultz
to
gather
some
information
on
applicable
wastewater
treatment
technologies
for
the
petrochemical
industry
­
including
petroleum
refineries
and
petroleum
bulk
stations
and
terminals
(
PBSTs).

USFilter
currently
has
1500
installations
in
the
petrochemical
industry,
including
oil/
water
separators,
biological
treatment,
and
solid
waste
management.
The
company
has
also
installed
wastewater
reuse
systems
where
the
effluent
is
treated
and
then
reused
as
make­
up
water
to
cooling
towers.
Mr.
Schultz
will
e­
mail
some
additional
treatment
technology
information
­
industry
brochures
and
technology
maps
that
show
typical
treatment
and
wastewater
steps.

I
asked
Mr.
Schultz
if
he
had
any
cost
estimates
in
relation
to
flow
rates
for
certain
treatment
systems.
He
stated
that
the
costs
depend
on
flow
rate
and
application.
He
did
not
have
any
general
costs
since
they
tend
to
be
very
application
specific.
I
told
Mr.
Schultz,
I
may
contact
him
with
more
specific
information
and
perhaps
include
him
on
a
conference
call
with
some
colleagues
­
he
said
that
would
be
fine.

I
also
asked
Mr.
Schultz
some
specific
application
questions
as
discussed
below:

Desalter
Wastewater:
The
first
step
in
processing
crude
oil
is
to
mix
the
crude
with
water
to
remove
salt
from
the
crude.
The
desalter
wastewater
(
or
brine
water)
is
separated
from
the
crude.
The
desalter
is
designed
to
process
oil
with
lighter
specific
gravity
than
some
current
crudes
possess.
Therefore,
the
brine
water
carries
over
some
oil
and
emulsion
which
causes
problems
at
the
wastewater
treatment
plant.
To
break
the
emulsion,
you
must
separate
the
oil
from
the
brine
water
prior
to
the
treatment
plant.
Typically,
sites
use
an
oil/
water
separator
along
with
a
chemical
conditioning
program.
2
USFilter
Telecon
­
December
2,
2003
Tank
Bottom
Water
Discharge
and
Treatment:
Mr.
Schultz
said
there
are
some
tank
farms
not
close
to
sewer
systems
or
POTWs
that
do
discharge
tank
bottom
waters
(
i.
e.,
water
draws).
It
is
not
economical
to
truck
the
tank
bottom
waters
to
off­
site
treatment
facilities.
Some
sites
place
the
tank
bottom
waters
into
the
pipelines
and
pump
to
another
facility
with
treatment.
Sites
that
do
treat
and
discharge
their
tank
bottom
waters
use
biological
treatment.

Granulated
Activated
Carbon
(
GAC)
Treatment
Systems:
GAC
treatment
systems
are
used
a
lot
for
air
emission
control
requirements.
Sites
may
need
to
cover
their
wastewater
treatment
system
to
control
volatile
organic
compound
(
VOC)
air
emissions.
The
GAC
treatment
is
used
only
if
low
levels
of
VOCs
and
hydrocarbons
are
present
in
the
wastewater.
If
high
levels
of
VOCs
and
hydrocarbons
are
present,
more
activated
carbon
is
needed
and
this
can
be
very
expensive.
Sites
with
high
levels
instead
use
biological
treatment.
Mr.
Schultz
did
note
that
the
petrochemical
industry
does
use
a
lot
of
activated
carbon.