AM-17-63 Implementing Membrane Bioreactor Technology to Upgrade Marathon Petroleum’s Detroit Refinery Wastewater Treatment

Description:

The refining process consumes a large amount of water, mainly for cooling and steam generation systems, and produces wastewater from the various process steps. Refineries are now faced with both the challenges of discharge standards becoming more stringent and freshwater supply becoming increasingly scarce and costly. The ability to treat wastewater to higher standards to then reuse the treated effluent as process water is becoming an increasingly attractive option for refineries. Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology is a proven process for treating refinery wastewater to stringent requirements enabling the reuse of the effluent within the process. Marathon Petroleum Company LP (MPC) has a refinery in Detroit, Michigan, with a capacity of 132,000 barrels per day. Originally, the facility included wastewater pretreatment that was Induced Gas Flotation followed by Sand Filtration, discharging to the municipal sewage system. In 2011, a new discharge requirement was established with volatile organic compound (VOC) removal, the primary constituent being Benzene. As a result, MPC decided to move forward with a four-month pilot study using MBR technology. After successfully demonstrating consistent effluent quality below the new discharge standards, MPC proceeded with the design and installation of a full-scale, 4 million gallons per day MBR. The full-scale facility has now been in operation for over a year and has consistently achieved the performance required.