A review of application and development of combustion technology for oil sludge.

Oil sludge is a typical hazardous waste in the petrochemical and electric power industry. It has complex components and special properties, and has serious hazards to humans, plants, water, and soil. Therefore, how to realize the effective disposal of oil sludge has become an urgent issue to be solved worldwide. Among the existing oil sludge treatment approaches, combustion has been considered to be a promising technology to realize the large-scale industrial application. In the present work, the characteristics of oil sludge were described in detail. The application and development of oil sludge combustion technology were critically summarized and discussed, including factors affecting combustion, drying process, combustion characteristics, synergistic treatment technology, and formation and control of secondary pollution. Besides, the development of combustion equipment, and integrated thermal treatment technology for oil sludge were prospected. This work can be used for guiding the industrial disposal of oil sludge.

Study on the ecological risk of heavy metals during oily sludge incineration with CaO additive.

In order to explore the effect of CaO on the ecological risk of chromium (Cr), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in Oily sludge (OS), the incineration experiments of OS with and without calcium oxide (CaO) additive were carried out respectively in a horizontal tube furnace at the temperature ranging from 800 °C to 1000 °C. Furthermore, the ecological risk based on Risk Assessment Code (RAC) of Cr, Cu and Zn in OS, bottom ash from OS incineration (OSA) and bottom ash from OS incineration in the presence of CaO additive (OSA-CaO) were investigated in this work. The results showed that most of the Cr and Cu in OS remained in bottom ash, while Zn volatilized with the flue gas. At the same time, the RAC of Cr, Cu and Zn in OS decreased significantly after incineration. Compared with OSA, CaO obviously promoted the stabilization of Cr and Cu in OSA-CaO, but had little effect on the behavior of Zn. Moreover, CaO also reduced the RAC of Cu and Zn in samples, and reduced its harm to ecosystem. This study supplied essential data and theoretical support for the industrial treatment of OS, and was of great help to the harmless treatment of OS.

Combustion characteristics and kinetic analysis of oil sludge with CaO additive.

Combustion of High-sulfur oil sludge (OS) blended with CaO can significantly reduce the emission of sulfur gas pollutants, but its combustion and kinetic characteristics need to be further studied. TGA experiments showed the combustion characteristics of OS were significantly changed after adding CaO. As reflected by comprehensive combustion index (S), the combustion performance of OS decreased after adding CaO, and significantly improved with the increase of heating rate. The kinetic parameters of the main combustion process of OS with CaO were calculated by the iso-conversion methods of Friedman, FWO, and Starink, respectively. Kinetic analysis results indicated the energy required for OS combustion with CaO first increased and then decreased with deepening of reaction degree. The thermodynamic parameters of ΔH, ΔG and ΔS were determined on the basis of kinetics. The negative ΔH, positive ΔG, and negative ΔS validated the combustion of OS with CaO was an exothermic and nonspontaneous process.

Spatial distributions, source apportionment and ecological risks of C9-C17 chlorinated paraffins in mangrove sediments from Dongzhai Harbor, Hainan Island.

The spatial distributions, possible sources of C9-C17 chlorinated paraffins (CPs), and the ecological risks posed in mangrove sediment in Dongzhai Harbor (Hainan Island, China) were investigated. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography combined with electron capture negative ionization mass spectrometry was used to determine 50 C9-C17 CP congener groups. The concentrations of C9-CPs, short-chain CPs (SCCPs), and medium-chain CPs (MCCPs) in the mangrove sediment samples were 8.28-79.7, 89.2-931, and 58.8-834 ng g-1 dry weight, respectively. The CPs concentrations in the mangrove sediment samples were moderate compared with those found in other regions worldwide. The spatial distributions and congener patterns of the CPs indicated that the CP concentrations were mainly controlled by local emissions and that wastewater discharged from livestock and shrimp breeding facilities and domestic sewage were the main sources of CPs in mangrove sediment in Dongzhai Harbor. C10Cl6-7 and C14Cl7-8 were the dominant SCCP and MCCP congener groups, respectively. The MCCP concentrations and total organic carbon contents significantly correlated (R2 = 0.607, P < 0.05). Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis indicated that the SCCP and MCCP congeners were from different commercial CP formulations and sources. Risk assessments suggested that SCCPs and MCCPs in mangrove sediment in Dongzhai Harbor do not currently pose marked risks to sediment-dwelling organisms.

Experimental study on gasification of oil sludge with steam and its char characteristic.

Hydrogen can be prepared by oil sludge (OS) gasification with steam, which is of great significance for industrial hazardous waste treatment and resource conservation. The gasification performance was studied by a tube furnace reactor. The OS gasification was carried out at different temperatures (600, 700, 800 and 900 °C) and with different steam to OS ratio (SOS) (0.1:1, 0.3:1, 0.5:1). During the gasification process, hydrogen production first increased and then decreased, and hydrogen production was faster in 5-15 min. The yield of hydrogen of OS gasification reached the maximum when the SOS was 0.3:1 at 800 °C. The highest hydrogen yield per unit mass OS was 48.50 mL min-1 g-1. After gasification, the char yield was high, generally more than 50%. It was necessary to treat the char and incineration was an effective solution for low carbon fuels. Thus particle size distribution, incineration thermogravimetric analysis and heavy metal leaching concentrations analysis were carried out. The results showed that the average particle size of char ranged from 85 to 120 µm. The char incineration process could be divided into three stages: water evaporation, the precipitation and combustion of volatiles, and the combustion of fixed carbon and heavy components. After OS gasification at 800 °C, the leaching concentrations of typical heavy metals (As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) were all up to the standard. Therefore, OS gasification combined with char incineration was an effective approach for the utilization of solid waste, which can recover hydrogen energy and reduce environmental risks.

Pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics analysis of oil sludge with CaO additive.

In the process of exploitation, transportation and refining of high-sulfur crude oil, a large number of oil sludge (OS) with high sulfur content is produced. Pyrolysis has been proved to be an effective method for OS disposal, but for solid waste with high sulfur content, lots of sulfur-containing gases will be released during thermal disposal. The addition of calcium oxide in pyrolysis process is an economical and effective way to capture sulfur-containing gases. In order to understand the pyrolysis process of OS with CaO, a thermogravimetric analyser was used to conduct pyrolysis experiments of OS with different Ca/S molar ratios (0, 1, 2 and 3) at different heating rates (10°C/min, 20°C/min, 30°C/min and 40°C/min). The results showed that with the increase of CaO addition the derivative thermogravimetric curves showed a gentle trend. In addition, new weight loss peaks were occurred at 700-900°C and after 1100°C, which were the decomposition of calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate, respectively. The kinetic parameters were solved by Friedman, FWO, and Starink methods, and the results were similar, with an average activation energies (E) value of 214 kJ/mol. The change trend of the activation energy was followed by an increase and then a decrease corresponding to the change of energy demand for the reaction. The calculated average values of ΔH, ΔG and ΔS were about 207, 447 and -0.3250 kJ/mol, respectively. When the conversion rate was 0.5, the thermodynamic parameters reached their maximum values.