One of the largest Russian refineries selects GE's MBR with MACarrier technology for tough-to-treat industrial wastewater

Russian oil company Bashneft will use GE's new membrane bioreactor with membrane-accommodating carrier (MACarrier) for the treatment of refinery wastewater from the Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim oil processing complex and other enterprises of the Northern Industrial Block of Ufa. Strict discharge regulations and the need to reuse the treated water led Bashneft to also choose GE's ZeeWeed MBR, electrodialysis reversal (EDR), reverse osmosis (RO) and ion-selective ionic exchange technologies for its new wastewater treatment plant.

The announcement represents the first application of GE's MBR with MACarrier technology in Russia. It is designed to help industrial customers meet stringent water discharge requirements and enable greater water reuse while achieving cost savings and increased operating efficiency. Bashneft will use GE's MBR with MACarrier technology to enable more efficient removal of oil products, phenols and other toxic substances from wastewater.

The total volume of treated wastewater will be up to 84,000 m³ per day (84 MLD), which will be an unprecedented amount in terms of the volume of wastewater to be treated and reused at an industrial facility.

Bashneft will be using GE technology to rebuild its biological effluent treatment facilities to comply with state regulations governing effluent treatment and to enable it to reuse treated water. The equipment will be delivered by the end of 2014, and the startup of production facilities is scheduled for the end of 2015.

Advanced effluent treatment methods allow for the reuse of water and the minimising of water intake. A distinctive feature of GE's water treatment package is the absence of primary and secondary clarifiers.

Activated sludge is separated from treated water by ZeeWeed 500 ultrafiltration membranes at the aeration tanks discharge. Solid waste dewatering is performed by compact centrifuges. These features ensure the reduction of the area taken up by effluent treatment facilities and eliminate the possibility of environmental pollution.

In April−July 2013, a successful pilot study of different technologies was conducted by GE in cooperation with Bashneft and State Unitary Enterprise Institute of Petroleum Refining and Petrochemistry of the Republic of Bashkortostan, which demonstrated technological feasibility of refinery wastewater purification in compliance with the strict requirements of environmental legislation of the Russian Federation. According to the results of the preliminary study and further feasibility analyses, Bashneft chose GE's MBR with MACarrier, EDR, RO and ion-selective ion exchange technologies as the basis for the project to upgrade the biological treatment facilities (BTF) of the Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim branch. To continue development of the BTF project, Bashneft requested that GE develop the basic design of the main technological equipment and processes. This was completed before the end of 2013.

Bashneft is a vertically integrated oil company operating in more than 20 regions in Russia and abroad. In 2012, the company ranked eighth in oil production (15.4 million tons) and fifth in crude oil processing (20.8 million) among Russia's oil companies. Bashneft accounts for 3 percent of total production and 7.8 percent of total oil refining in Russia. Bashneft oil refinery biological treatment facilities, located at its Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim branch, were commissioned in 1958. Industrial effluents, storm sewage and utility fluids from three Bashneft oil refineries, Ufaorgsyntez plant, Cherkassy oil pumping station and a number of other Ufa Northern Industrial Hub enterprises are currently taken to biological treatment facilities after preliminary mechanical treatment. Treatment facilities were modernised in 1983.