In need of a recovery plan for its wastewater treatment system, an industrial oil refinery in New Mexico used BioLynceus® products to restart biological treatment after a toxic event. The refinery was processing 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Figure 1. Large oil refinery and adjacent treatment lagoon
processing refinery wastewater flows (Retrieved from IPIECA, 2010).1
1 IPIECA (International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association). Petroleum Refining Water/Wastewater use and management.
Operations Best Practice Series, London, UK. 2010.
Toxicity occurred in the system after a foaming fire retardant was unexpectedly released at the refinery. The wastewater discharged to the lagoons following the event was contaminated with chemicals.
The compounds in the fire retardant reacted with the dissolved oxygen (DO) in the treatment ponds, drastically decreasing oxygen availability for wastewater microorganisms. Because DO levels were very low, the oxygen-dependent biomass in the system was killed off.
Without a concentrated and functioning microbial population, the refinery wastewater was not properly processed in the aerated lagoons. Solids and refining residues began to build up in the system. The lagoons were also covered in a thick, oily film that produced unpleasant odors.
The refinery required bioaugmentation to restart biological processing in the aerated lagoons. BioLynceus® ProBiotic Scrubber® II (PBII) was used to augment the system.
The product contained a concentrated and intentionally selected community of live wastewater microorganisms. The culture was administered to the first treatment lagoon to (1) increase the wastewater-processing biomass in the system and (2) improve solids and hydrocarbon removal.
Figure 2. Aerated wastewater lagoon treating oil refinery discharge.
The lagoon developed a solids and hydrocarbon film from crude oil
byproducts in the refinery wastewater.
Within a week of treatment with PBII, the biomass regenerated in the system, helping to reduce odors. Additionally, the oily foam layer on the lagoons was reduced.
The solids and hydrocarbon sludge that had accumulated in the system began to degrade within a few months after inoculation. Bioaugmentation with PBII helped restore a healthy biomass in the lagoon system following a toxic chemical loading event.
BioLynceus® ProBiotic Scrubber® II augments biomass in refinery lagoons to mitigate toxicity.