Case Study

Refinery Debottlenecks Wastewater Treatment

Source: Siemens Energy, Inc. - Water Solutions

Calcasieu Refining, located on the Gulf Coast at Lake Charles, Louisiana, needed to expand their processing production and comply with tighter environmental regulations. However, their existing 46-gpm wastewater treatment plant was 22 years old and severely space-limited. To increase its crude output to 31,000 bbl/d, the refinery needed to raise the wastewater treatment plant capacity to 124 gpm in less than a year.

In only eight months, Siemens helped the refinery:

  • Replace their existing oil/water separation system
  • Retrofit their existing biological treatment aeration system
  • Install a new biological clarification system.

The upgrades and additions allowed the Lake Charles refinery to treat higher wastewater flow during ongoing process expansions and maintain the existing net load discharge levels.

Case Study

Challenge
Calcasieu Refining, Lake Charles, La., needed to treat increased wastewater flow associated with major process expansions, while maintaining existing net load discharge levels.

In order to meet the timetable for the first process expansion, the equipment for the new plant needed to be designed and shipped to the job site within four-and-a-half months of the order award.

Solution
Siemens supplied oil/water separation, aeration and clarification equipment to the plant, and also was able to reuse some of the existing wastewater treatment equipment and tanks on site.

Siemens also identified other equipment and systems on site that could be used for temporary treatment while modifications to the existing system were made.

Results
The new wastewater treatment plant went on-line less than a year after USFilter supplied the plant's new equipment. The project was on-time, on-budget and is working well, and by reusing some of the existing equipment at the plant, the cost and area of the new wastewater treatment system was significantly reduced.

Says Toni Bennett, Technical/Safety/Environmental Superintendent at Calcasieu Refining, "Because we have numerous construction projects going on simultaneously at the site, we wanted a wastewater treatment company with significant experience in the petroleum industry that could provide all the major equipment, coordinate the design of the system and provide a complete mechanical and process guarantee. Siemens fit that bill."

SOURCE: Siemens Energy, Inc. - Water Solutions