Oil refinery agrees to pilot test new wastewater treatment system

Russian oil company Bashneft has announced the decision to perform pilot tests using GE's ZeeWeed membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology. The MBR system is designed for the biological treatment of wastewater and will be used at the Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim oil processing complex in the Northern Industrial Block of Ufa.

Bashneft selected GE's MBR, electrodialysis reversal (EDR) and reverse osmosis (RO) technologies for the pilot testing. The decision has been born of strict discharge regulations and the need to reuse wastewater. The testing is part of the preparations being made for the modernisation of biological treatment plants (BTP) of Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim and has the cooperation of the Institute of Petroleum Refining and Petrochemistry of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The tests will continue until the end of June this year and are designed to show how sewage purification technology is the way forward, especially within an area with such strict environmental legislation like the Russian Federation.

GE will be using new purification methods in a closed-cycle system, which allows a minimal intake of water. The new process doesn't use preliminary clarification tanks or secondary clarifiers, instead when the activated sludge leaves the aeration tank it is separated from the treated water by the ZeeWeed-500 ultrafiltration membrane. The size of the purification facilities is reduced further by the dehydration of oil sludge, precipitation and excess sludge taking place on compacted centrifuges. The smaller area in which the treatment takes place reduces the risk of any contaminant affecting the environment.

Viktor Gantsev, senior vice president of OJSC Oil Processing Joint-Stock Company Bashneft for petroleum processing and petrochemistry, said: "Bashneft focuses on protecting the environment from harmful industrial impacts. We believe that the company's best-in-class oil processing complexity level has to have the best sewage water treatment system, and we hope that GE's advanced technology will help to solve this problem and make the water of Belaya River cleaner, which will be beneficial for all the people of Bashkortostan."