A critical review on energy recovery and non-hazardous disposal of oily sludge from petroleum industry by pyrolysis

Jiantao Li; Fawei Lin; Kai Li; Fa Zheng; Beibei Yan; Lei Che; Wangyang Tian; Guanyi Chen; Kunio Yoshikawa

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124706

A critical review on energy recovery and non-hazardous disposal of oily sludge from petroleum industry by pyrolysis

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Mar 15:406:124706. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124706. Epub 2020 Dec 1.

Authors

Jiantao Li¹, Fawei Lin², Kai Li¹, Fa Zheng¹, Beibei Yan¹, Lei Che³, Wangyang Tian⁴, Guanyi Chen⁵, Kunio Yoshikawa⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University/Tianjin Key Lab of Biomass/Wastes Utilization, Tianjin 300072, PR China.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University/Tianjin Key Lab of Biomass/Wastes Utilization, Tianjin 300072, PR China. Electronic address: linfawei@tju.edu.cn.
³ School of Engineering, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000, PR China.
⁴ Zhejiang Eco Environmental Technology Co. LTD, Huzhou 313000, PR China.
⁵ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, PR China.

PMID: 33418275
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124706

Abstract

This review systematically reports the pyrolysis of oily sludge (OS) from petroleum industry in regards to its dual features of the energy recovery potential and the environmental risks. The petroleum hydrocarbons are the nonbiodegradable fractions in OS that possess hazardous properties, i.e. ignitability and toxicity. Besides, complicated hazardous elements (i.e. N, S and Cl) and heavy metals inherently existing in OS further aggravate the environmental risks. However, the high oil content and heating value of OS contribute to its huge energy resource potential. Considering the energy demand and the environmental pressure, the ultimate purposes of the OS management are to enhance the oil recovery efficiency to minimize the oil content as well as to stabilize the hazardous elements and heavy metals into the solid residue. Among various OS management technologies, pyrolysis is the most suitable approach to reach both targets. In this review paper, the pyrolysis principle, the kinetics and the product distribution in three-phases are discussed firstly. Then the effects of operating parameters of the pyrolysis process on the quality and the application potential of the three-phase products, as well as the hazardous element distribution are discussed. To further solve the dominant concerns, such as the oil content in the solid residue, the pyrolytic oil quality and the migration of hazardous elements and heavy metals, the potentials of the catalytic pyrolysis and the co-pyrolysis with additives are also summarized. Also, the typical pyrolysis reactors are then presented. From the perspective of the energy efficiency and the non-hazardous disposal, the integrated technology combining the pyrolysis and the combustion for the OS management is recommended. Finally, the remaining challenges of OS pyrolysis encountered in the research and the industrial application are discussed and the related outlooks are itemized.

Keywords: Energy recovery; Non-hazardous disposal; Oily sludge; Physicochemical properties; Pyrolysis.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't