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Refinery Effluent Treatment
Phase Separation & Oil Water

Refinery Effluent Treatment

Multi stage treatment of refinery effluent combining CPI gravity separation, coalescing polishing, and activated carbon adsorption to meet discharge consent on petroleum hydrocarbons.

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The Challenge
Refinery process water carries free hydrocarbons (oily water from desalters, tank bottoms), dispersed hydrocarbons (sour water condensate), and dissolved hydrocarbons (FCC fractionator water). The discharge consent typically requires below 10 mg/L petroleum hydrocarbons; tighter consents reach 5 mg/L or below.
Quick Answer

Refinery effluent treatment removes free, dispersed, and dissolved hydrocarbons from refinery process water (desalter brine, sour water stripper bottoms, FCC fractionator water, tank farm rainwater) to meet regulator discharge consent on petroleum hydrocarbons. SorbiTech delivers the duty as a staged CPI, coalescer, and activated carbon polishing train.

Refinery Effluent Treatment

Refinery Water Has Three Hydrocarbon Fractions

Refinery process water carries free hydrocarbons (visible oil from desalters and tank bottoms), dispersed hydrocarbons (10 to 150 micron droplets from sour water condensate and slop oil), and dissolved hydrocarbons (BTEX, phenols, naphthalenes from FCC and reforming fractionator waters). Each fraction requires a different treatment technology, no single unit removes all three. The SorbiTech refinery effluent train stages the right technology for each fraction.

Three Stage Treatment Train

The standard train is:

Each stage carries one fraction; the combined train delivers the regulator discharge consent reliably across the campaign.

Refinery Effluent Treatment process equipment

Sour Service and Materials

Refinery effluent often carries hydrogen sulphide from sour water stripping; the equipment is built to NACE MR0175 with hardness controlled welds and post weld heat treatment. The polishing carbon bed handles the dissolved sulphur compounds (mercaptans, thiophenes) that the gravity and coalescing stages do not retain.

Delivery and Lifecycle

Delivered as a complete train turnkey by SorbiTech or as individual skid scope by SorbiTech. The SorbiTech activated carbon is reactivated thermally at the partner facility through the SorbiTech reactivation programme, which lowers the lifecycle cost by 40 to 60 percent versus single use. Sector coverage is petrochemicals and refining.

Selection Guidance

Stage 1: CPI for free oil. Stage 2: coalescing skid for dispersed oil to single digit ppm. Stage 3: activated carbon for dissolved hydrocarbons. For sour service, NACE materials. For tertiary polishing on the tightest consents, GAC reactivation programme.

How SorbiTech Solves It

A Specified, Verified Solution

Define the duty

We capture your process conditions: flow, composition, pressure, temperature, and the target outlet specification.

Select media & configuration

Our engineers recommend the adsorbent grade and system type that meet the duty with margin.

Size & engineer

Bed sizing, vessel design, and cycle parameters are engineered to your case and documented for approval.

Commission & verify

We support loading, start up, and performance verification against the guarantee.

Recommended Products & Systems

Media

Adsorbents & Media

  1. 01 Activated Carbon GAC 1240 Adsorbent Activated Carbon GAC 1240 Coal based granular activated carbon for dechlorination, taste and odour, and dissolved organics in water. Form 12 × 40 US mesh (0.42–1.70 mm)
  2. 02 Powdered Activated Carbon Adsorbent Powdered Activated Carbon Fine powder carbon for slurry dosing in water treatment, sugar decolorization, pharmaceutical purification, and emergency contamination response. Form 200×325 mesh (45–75 µm)
  3. 03 SorbiTech Activated Alumina Aa 201 Fluoride Removal Defluoridation Adsorbent Activated Alumina AA-201 Smooth sphere activated alumina for compressed air and gas drying, fluoride removal, and guard bed duty. Water Cap. ≥ 18 %
Equipment

Engineered Systems

  1. 01 SorbiTech Coalescing Filtration Skid Oil Water Coalescer Filter Package Equipment Coalescing Filtration Skid Two stage coalescer and separator skid that removes fine dispersed hydrocarbons and solids from water down to single digit ppm. It is the polishing… Capacity 2–200 m³/h
  2. 02 CPI Oil Water Separator 1 Equipment CPI Oil Water Separator Corrugated plate interceptor that separates free oil and settleable solids from produced and industrial water to below 10 ppm. Compact, with no moving parts. Capacity 5–500 m³/h
  3. 03 SorbiTech Vehicle Wash Water Recycling Skid CPI Multimedia GAC Fleet Wash Recycling Equipment Vehicle Wash Water Recycling Skid Compact wash water recycling skid for car, truck, bus, and heavy equipment wash bays with staged CPI separation, coalescing polishing, and activated carbon adsorption. Capacity 0.5–50 m³/h
  4. 04 SorbiTech Activated Carbon Water Contactor Drinking Water GAC Polishing Contactor Equipment Activated Carbon Water Contactor Granular activated carbon fixed bed water contactor for dechlorination, taste and odour, dissolved organic carbon, and emerging contaminant polishing in drinking water and process… Capacity 5–2,000 m³/h
  5. 05 SorbiTech Community Defluoridation Treatment Unit Activated Alumina Fluoride Removal Skid Equipment Community Defluoridation Treatment Unit Containerised activated alumina defluoridation unit for community and decentralised drinking water supply to the WHO guideline of 1.5 mg per litre. Capacity 0.5–50 m³/h
  6. 06 SorbiTech Multi Media Filter Water Treatment Pressure Vessel Mmf Equipment Multi Media Filter Multi media filter for suspended solids and turbidity removal upstream of activated carbon polishing, reverse osmosis, or process reuse in water treatment trains. Capacity 5–500 m³/h
Industries

Industries Using This Application

  1. 01 SorbiTech Petrochemicals Refining Integrated Cracker Complex Distillation Columns Sector Petrochemicals & Refining Adsorbents and separation systems for feedstock drying, process gas conditioning, solvent recovery, and refinery effluent treatment.

Specify a Solution for This Application

Provide your process conditions and our team will recommend the grade, configuration, and sizing.

contact@sorbitech.com