Oil Refinery & Petrochemical Industry Wastewater Treatment: Expert 5-Day Training Course

Course Overview

The Oil Refinery & Petrochemical Industry Wastewater Treatment training course is an intensive 5-day specialized program designed for professionals managing complex industrial wastewater challenges in petroleum refining and petrochemical manufacturing operations. This comprehensive course covers refinery wastewater characteristics, API separator operations, biological treatment optimization, advanced treatment technologies, regulatory compliance, and zero liquid discharge systems. Participants gain expert knowledge in designing, operating, and troubleshooting wastewater treatment systems specific to petroleum processing, aromatics production, olefins manufacturing, and downstream chemical operations.

Target Audience for Refinery Wastewater Treatment Training

• Refinery wastewater treatment plant operators and supervisors

• Petrochemical facility environmental engineers

• Process engineers responsible for water management

• Environmental compliance officers in petroleum operations

• Industrial wastewater treatment specialists

• Utility managers at refining and chemical complexes

• EHS (Environment, Health, Safety) coordinators

• Plant managers overseeing wastewater operations

• Consulting engineers specializing in petroleum industry

• Technology vendors serving refining sector

• Regulatory agency personnel overseeing petroleum facilities

Day 1: Refinery & Petrochemical Wastewater Characteristics

Morning Session: Petroleum Refining Processes & Wastewater Sources

Industry-Specific Foundation:
Understanding refinery operations and process units is essential for effective wastewater treatment system design, operation, and troubleshooting in petroleum facilities.

Essential Topics:

• Crude oil distillation and fractionation processes

• Catalytic cracking (FCC) and hydrocracking operations

• Catalytic reforming and alkylation units

• Hydrotreating and desulfurization processes

• Coking operations: delayed coking, fluid coking

• Aromatics production: BTX (benzene, toluene, xylene)

• Olefins manufacturing: steam cracking operations

• Polymer production wastewater characteristics

• Process condensates and sour water generation

• Cooling tower blowdown and heat exchanger leaks

• Tank farm drainage and oily stormwater runoff

• Laboratory and utility wastewater streams

Afternoon Session: Wastewater Characterization & Segregation

Complex Effluent Analysis:

• Petroleum hydrocarbon content: total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH)

• Oil and grease measurements: hexane extractable material (HEM)

• Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD)

• Phenolic compounds and aromatic hydrocarbons

• Sulfides, mercaptans, and reduced sulfur compounds

• Ammonia and nitrogen species from sour water

• Heavy metals: chromium, nickel, vanadium, lead

• Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX) compounds

• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

• Total dissolved solids (TDS) and conductivity

• Wastewater segregation strategies: oily, chemical, sanitary, stormwater

• Flow equalization requirements and surge management

Workshop Exercise: Analyzing refinery wastewater characterization data, identifying treatment challenges, and developing segregation strategies

Day 2: Primary Treatment & Oil-Water Separation Systems

Morning Session: API Separator Design & Operations

Gravity Separation Excellence:

• American Petroleum Institute (API) separator design standards

• Stokes’ Law application and settling velocity calculations

• Separator sizing: length, width, depth requirements

• Retention time and surface overflow rate optimization

• Inlet design for flow distribution and energy dissipation

• Weir configurations and effluent discharge systems

• Skimming mechanisms: pipe skimmers, belt skimmers, weir skimmers

• Sludge removal systems: flight scrapers, vacuum systems

• Temperature control for optimal separation efficiency

• Troubleshooting short-circuiting and poor separation

• Winter operations and freeze protection measures

• Maintenance procedures and cleaning schedules

Afternoon Session: Advanced Primary Treatment Technologies

Enhanced Separation Systems:

• Corrugated plate interceptors (CPI): design and performance

• Parallel plate interceptors (PPI) and coalescing media

• Tilted plate separators (TPS) for space optimization

• Induced gas flotation (IGF) systems

• Dissolved air flotation (DAF) for refinery applications

• Hydrocyclone technology for oil removal

• Emulsion breaking and chemical demulsification

• Polymer and coagulant selection for oily wastewater

• pH adjustment strategies for optimal treatment

• Primary clarifier design for suspended solids removal

• Recovered oil quality and reprocessing options

• Oily sludge handling and disposal alternatives

Case Study Analysis: Evaluating API separator performance data, identifying operational problems, and implementing optimization strategies

Day 3: Biological Treatment Systems for Refinery Wastewater

Morning Session: Activated Sludge Process Optimization

Secondary Treatment Excellence:

• Activated sludge configurations for petroleum wastewater

• Conventional plug-flow vs. complete-mix systems

• Bioaugmentation for hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms

• Acclimation procedures for refinery biomass

• Food-to-microorganism (F/M) ratio management

• Solids retention time (SRT) optimization for nitrification

• Dissolved oxygen control and aeration strategies

• Nutrient supplementation: nitrogen and phosphorus requirements

• Toxicity management and shock load mitigation

• Bulking and foaming control in petroleum applications

• Mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) monitoring

• Return activated sludge (RAS) and waste activated sludge (WAS) control

Afternoon Session: Specialized Biological Treatment Processes

Advanced Bioremediation:

• Trickling filter applications for refinery wastewater

• Rotating biological contactors (RBC) for hydrocarbon removal

• Sequencing batch reactors (SBR) for variable loading

• Moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) technology

• Integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) systems

• Anaerobic treatment for high-strength petrochemical wastewater

• Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors

• Biological aerated filters (BAF) for polishing

• Constructed wetlands for petroleum facility effluents

• Bioaugmentation products and effectiveness evaluation

• Phenol biodegradation kinetics and limitations

• Sulfide oxidation and biological desulfurization

Technical Workshop: Designing activated sludge systems for specific refinery wastewater characteristics, calculating detention times, and optimizing operational parameters

Day 4: Advanced Treatment & Polishing Technologies

Morning Session: Tertiary Treatment Processes

Meeting Stringent Discharge Limits:

• Multimedia filtration: sand, anthracite, garnet configurations

• Granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption systems

• Carbon selection for petroleum compounds removal

• GAC exhaustion monitoring and regeneration

• Powdered activated carbon (PAC) applications

• Organoclay adsorption for dissolved hydrocarbons

• Chemical oxidation: chlorination, ozonation, hydrogen peroxide

• Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for recalcitrant compounds

• UV/H₂O₂ systems for BTEX and phenol destruction

• Fenton oxidation for high-strength petrochemical streams

• Ion exchange for ammonia and heavy metal removal

• Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology for refinery applications

Afternoon Session: Water Reuse & Zero Liquid Discharge

Sustainable Water Management:

• Water reuse opportunities in refineries: cooling towers, process water

• Reverse osmosis (RO) for produced water and condensate polishing

• Nanofiltration (NF) for selective contaminant removal

• Ultrafiltration (UF) pretreatment for membrane systems

• Evaporation systems: mechanical vapor recompression (MVR)

• Crystallization technology for zero liquid discharge (ZLD)

• Brine concentrators and mixed salt recovery

• Thermal evaporators for high-TDS streams

• Forward osmosis applications in petroleum industry

• Economic evaluation of water reuse vs. discharge

• Life cycle assessment and sustainability metrics

• Regulatory drivers for water conservation and reuse

Design Exercise: Developing integrated treatment trains for water reuse, calculating recovery rates, and performing economic analysis

Day 5: Regulations, Operations Management & Emerging Technologies

Morning Session: Regulatory Compliance & Permitting

Environmental Compliance Framework:

• Clean Water Act and NPDES permit requirements

• Effluent Limitation Guidelines: 40 CFR Part 419 (Petroleum Refining)

• 40 CFR Part 414 (Organic Chemicals, Plastics, and Synthetic Fibers)

• Best Available Technology Economically Achievable (BAT) standards

• Best Conventional Pollutant Control Technology (BCT)

• Pretreatment standards for indirect dischargers

• Toxic pollutant effluent standards and priority pollutants

• Oil Pollution Prevention regulations and SPCC plans

• Stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPP)

• Discharge monitoring reports (DMR) and compliance tracking

• Upset and bypass provisions in NPDES permits

• Whole effluent toxicity (WET) testing requirements

• Biomonitoring and chronic toxicity assessment

• Enforcement actions and penalty mitigation strategies

Afternoon Session: Operations Management & Optimization

Operational Excellence:

• Process control strategies and automation systems

• SCADA integration for wastewater treatment monitoring

• Key performance indicators (KPIs) for refinery WWTPs

• Energy optimization: aeration efficiency and blower control

• Chemical cost reduction strategies

• Predictive maintenance for critical equipment

• Troubleshooting hydraulic overloads and upsets

• Emergency response procedures for spills and releases

• Biosolids management: thickening, dewatering, disposal

• Hazardous waste determinations and manifest systems

• Safety protocols: confined spaces, H₂S exposure, fire prevention

• Operator training programs and competency development

• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for consistent operations

• Environmental management systems (EMS) and ISO 14001

Emerging Technologies & Future Trends

Innovation in Petroleum Wastewater Treatment:

• Membrane distillation for high-salinity streams

• Electrocoagulation for oil-water separation

• Plasma-based advanced oxidation

• Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) for refractory compounds

• Catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) technology

• Nanomaterial-enhanced separation processes

• Enzymatic treatment for specific contaminants

• Bioelectrochemical systems for energy recovery

• Microbial fuel cells in refinery applications

• Real-time monitoring: online analyzers and sensors

• Artificial intelligence for process optimization

• Digital twins for wastewater treatment simulation

• Blockchain for environmental compliance tracking

• Climate resilience and water security strategies

Final Project: Comprehensive refinery wastewater treatment system design including flow balance, treatment unit sizing, chemical requirements, cost estimation, and regulatory compliance strategy

Comprehensive Training Materials & Professional Resources

Complete Course Package:

• Oil Refinery & Petrochemical Wastewater Treatment manual (450+ pages)

• Process flow diagrams for typical refinery WWTP configurations

• Equipment sizing calculation worksheets

• Troubleshooting guides for petroleum-specific problems

• Regulatory compliance checklist and permit application templates

• Chemical selection guides for demulsification and treatment

• Analytical methods for petroleum contaminants

• Case studies from operating refineries worldwide

• Technology vendor contact directory

• Industry standards: API, ASTM, EPA methods

Hands-On Learning Components:

• Process design calculations and system sizing

• Jar testing for chemical optimization

• Biological treatability assessments

• Equipment selection and specification exercises

• Troubleshooting scenario simulations

• Group problem-solving workshops

• Facility virtual tours and video presentations

• Best practice sharing among participants

Key Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion, participants will:

• Understand petroleum refining and petrochemical processes generating wastewater

• Design and size oil-water separation systems accurately

• Optimize biological treatment for hydrocarbon degradation

• Select advanced treatment technologies for specific contaminants

• Implement water reuse and zero liquid discharge systems

• Ensure regulatory compliance with petroleum industry standards

• Troubleshoot complex operational challenges systematically

• Manage costs while meeting environmental requirements

• Apply emerging technologies for improved performance

• Lead operational excellence in refinery wastewater treatment

Professional Development Value:

• Certificate of Specialization in Petroleum Wastewater Treatment

• 40 continuing education units (CEUs)

• Networking with petroleum industry professionals

• Access to instructor consultation for technical questions

• Membership in alumni network for ongoing knowledge sharing

Training Methodology:
Interactive learning combining technical lectures, mathematical calculations, laboratory demonstrations, case study analysis, design workshops, virtual facility tours, equipment simulations, and collaborative problem-solving sessions.

Enroll in Oil Refinery & Petrochemical Industry Wastewater Treatment training and become an expert in managing the most complex industrial wastewater challenges while ensuring environmental compliance, optimizing operations, and advancing sustainability in petroleum and chemical manufacturing facilities.