STUDY OF EVAPORATION RATE AND IGNITION OF VAPORS ABOVE REFINERY WASTEWATER CONTAMINATED WITH A MIXTURE OF HYDROCARBONS

• Main Author: BOHER @ BUJANG AMRI, NUR IZZATI
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi Petronas 2011
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/8943/1/2011-Study%20Of%20Evaporation%20Rate%20And%20Ignition%20Of%20Vapors%20Above%20Refinery%20Wastewater%20Contaminated%20With.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/8943/

Study of fire and explosion is very important mainly in refineries and industries due to several accidents which have been reported in the past and present. This study investigates the possibility of the occurrence of fire accident occasioned by the vaporization of hydrocarbon components derived from refinery wastewater drainage systems. In this study, liquid sample containing mixtures of hydrocarbon products and water were collected from a refinery's drainage systems and subjected to a distillation process to separate the water contents. The oil-liquid phase was analyzed using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) to examine the compositions of the sample. The results obtained indicate that there are 77 hydrocarbon components ranging from C9 to C22• Mole fractions of components in the liquid phase were obtained from the GC resnlts, while the mole fractions of gas components in gas phase were calcnlated via modified Raoult's Law. The evaporation rate and ignition of vapour above refinery wastewater contaminated by mixture of hydrocarbon were assessed. Evaporation Rate, Qm of each hydrocarbon was estimated by using generalized expression as proposed by Crowl and Louvar, (2002) and the Minimum Ignition Energy, MIE of each component was determine by interpolating the graph ofMIE versus Mass Transfer Number, Bas introduced by Ballal (1938b). From the calculations, 2-methyl-octane at peak number 53 has been identified to have the fastest Qm which is equal to 27.04 g/min and 1, 7-dimethyl-naphtalene at peak number 63 has been identified to have the lowest MIE. I -nonadecanol at peak number 40 has been identified to have the slowest Qm that is equal to 0.0000157 g/min and largest MIE value that is equal to 2.620 mJ. This calculation indirectly indicates that 1- nonadecanol is hard to. be ignited and takes longer time to vapourized. The resnlts also shows that evaporation rate of components presented in the drainage system is affected by its flash point, volume percent and vapour pressure. Minimum ignition energy of the components is affected by its flash point, volume percent and the number of carbons that make up the structural of the components. The findings of this study can be used to minimize fire hazards associated with presence of hydrocarbon vapours derived from refmery wastewater streams.