A COMPARISON OF OZONE AND HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
IN THE EMERGENCY OXIDATION OF A REFINERY WASTEWATER
Nathan C. Burbank, Jr., Professor
School of Public Health
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
Robert Matsumoto, Project Engineer
S and S Corporation
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
Glenn Inouye, Chemist
City and County of Honolulu
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
INTRODUCTION
The importance of the petroleum refining industry cannot be estimated, as a source of
primary energy, power for transport and innumerable product derivatives ranging from
fertilizer to plastics.   The waste from such refineries varies with the crude supplied, the
complexity of the refinery processes, and the number and diversity of the products.   Methods of waste treatment vary from refinery to refinery; however, in modern practice there
is a primary oU separator for oU and grease removal, sedimentation basins for the removal
of sludge and grit, followed by a biological treatment unit which reduces  the BOD5, phenol and suspended solids to levels acceptable to the receiving water.   Major responsibUity
is placed on the satisfactory operation of the biological treatment process for the production of a stable acceptable effluent.
On rare occasions there have been unforeseen accidents including discharges of hazardous wastes which have upset the biological treatment process to the point that it was ineffective and could not produce an acceptable effluent.   It was in view of these rare events
that a faUsafe method of treatment was sought, one which would operate despite hazardous and toxic discharges yet produce an effluent acceptable to the receiving body of water.
THE REFINERY
The refinery under consideration in this study is a 59,000-barrel per day capacity unit
producing 26 different products ranging from asphalt, Bunker C fuel oil, heavy and light
fuel oils, diesel fuel, jet fuel, avgas, motor gasoline, LPG, carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid
from crude oils secured from Alaska, Indonesia and Iran.
Figure 1 shows a flow diagram of the refining process at this refinery.   The crudes are
fractionated in an atmospheric still at 800 F.   The various fractions of the crude are cut
out for marketing or further processed in a catalytic cracker and a plate reformer to create
a more desirable product which is processed for market.   Certain fractions from the catalytic cracker are fed to a hydrogen former and a hydrogenation unit for combination into
heavier molecules or to the isomerization-alkylation unit where the molecules are rearranged
to form alkylate, a high-octane component of motor and aviation gasolines.   Sulfur in the
crude is transformed first to hydrogen sulfide and then to sulfuric acid in a catalytic oxidation process under less than atmospheric pressure.
While water use at this plant has been minimized—recirculation and atmospheric cooling towers are used-there is a primary wastestream at the plant termed tfye oUy water
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