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Abstract

A process for the treatment of refinery oily sludges to produce an oily fraction that is reprocessed in the refinery into (i) salable products and (ii) a solid residue meeting environmental regulatory agency requirements for disposal in non-hazardous solid waste landfills. The process includes mixing the refinery oily sludge with a particulate filter aid and preferably a single solvent selected from refinery intermediate and product streams and contacting this mixture with plate filters in a closed filter vessel. A cake residue forms on the filter plates and a filtrate mixture of oil, water and solvent is produced. The filtrate is separated into an oily fraction and a water fraction. The oily fraction is rerouted to refinery operating units for processing into salable products. The water fraction is routed to a refinery water treatment system. When filter cake residue has built to a predetermined level, charge to the filter vessel is discontinued. The filter cake residue is washed with a predetermined quantity of solvent and then steam stripped to remove petroleum hydrocarbons to a desired residual level, e.g. less than about 1,000 ppm or less than 500 ppm. The steam stripped filter cake is then removed from the filter vessel for disposal in an environmentally approved landfill.

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First Claim