ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF UTILIZATION OF WASTE ACTIVATED SLUDGE OF SARATOV REFINERY AND WAYS TO SOLVE THEM

摘要

The ecological problems of the Saratov Refinery (SarNPZ) associated with utilization of waste activated sludge (WAS) are analyzed. The feasibility of utilization of this waste as a feedstock for producing sorbent for cleaning effluents from the refinery is examined. A technological scheme for producing, applying, and utilizing WAS-based sorbent is proposed.The Saratov Refinery (SarNPZ) refines six million tons of crude oil per year and produces Euro-2-class gasoline, kerosene, residual fuel oil, diesel oil, asphalt, sulfur, vacuum gas oil, etc.The Saratov Refinery has wastewater-cleaning plants and faces problems of utilization of waste activated sludge (WAS). The latter is a large-tonnage waste, which is difficult to utilize because of high content of oil products, heavy metals, and other toxic matters. At the same time, activated sludge has high resource and energy potentials because it contains 37-52% proteins, 20-35% amino acids, fats, carbohydrates, vitamin B, etc. The annual growth of biomass of waste activated sludge comprises several thousand tons. On an average, 3.2-3.5 m of WAS is produced per 1000 nr of cleaned effluents. Waste activated sludge has been stored for the past 39 years on nine sludge dumpsites without being utilized (Fig. 1), which does not conform to present ecological requirements. That is why works on finding a solution to the problem of utilization of WAS are topical and are of great practical importance.