REDUCING WATER DEMAND AND WASTEWATER THROUGH SOURCE MANAGEMENT AND REUSE - PAULíNIA REFINERY EXPERIENCE

摘要

REPLAN - Paulínia Refinery - is the largest refinery of PETROBRAS system, refining 22% (341.000 bpd or 54.200 m 3 /d) of all the petroleum processed in Brazil. The area where the refinery is located (hydrographic basin of Piracicaba and Capivari rivers) presents water shortage, a fact that is worsened during periods of drought. Consequently, the related goals of reducing water intake and minimizing wastewater generation, motivated a meticulous work of identifying all sources of water and steam consumption, as well as mapping the contributors to the effluent group in the whole productive complex, intensively focusing on the most varied possibilities of reuse. The work, initiated by mid-1999, has caused so far a reduction of 350 m 3 /hr in the flow of the wastewater, through the described actions in the management of sources, minimization of consumption and implementation of reuse whenever possible. The quantity saved (350 m 3 /hr) is equivalent to the consumption of a population of 42,000 inhabitants. The goal of the company is a minimum water intake and wastewater generation, achieving (why not?) total recycling of the generated effluent, I.e., zero discard to the receptor. Such goal represents integration of Paulínia Refinery with the society, in which preservation of a natural resource such as water constitutes one of its best contributions to what should be our major goal: sustainable development.