Mercury content in the refinery wastewater
Mercury content in the refinery wastewater
(OP)
thread483-123687: Mercury in crude
My refinery haven't had experience to process crude oil with high mercury content before, but I'm sure that it will be a possibility in the near future that must be anticipated. What I would like to know is about the mercury in the waste water. Which waste water stream that will most likely contains the highest concentration of mercury? Will it be the sour water from Crude Column overhead Receiver, from Desalter's brine water, or probably from other stream?
Any sharing in experience will be highly appreciated.
My refinery haven't had experience to process crude oil with high mercury content before, but I'm sure that it will be a possibility in the near future that must be anticipated. What I would like to know is about the mercury in the waste water. Which waste water stream that will most likely contains the highest concentration of mercury? Will it be the sour water from Crude Column overhead Receiver, from Desalter's brine water, or probably from other stream?
Any sharing in experience will be highly appreciated.





RE: Mercury content in the refinery wastewater
Don't overlook other chemical inputs to your refinery processes either. Purchased caustic and sulfuric acid can have mercury in them too. They may be very low concentrations, but in terms of your overall mercury mass balance they may not be insignificant.
RE: Mercury content in the refinery wastewater
RE: Mercury content in the refinery wastewater
RE: Mercury content in the refinery wastewater
And there's certain types to watch out for like mercury cell caustic, surprisingly enough. Mercury cell used to be the most expensive grade due to its very high purity, with the exception of the mercury, but I'm not so sure that's the case any longer.
Sorry, but I can't give you any leads as to other chemicals to watch out for. A little testing of your effluent streams from your various units might give you some good ideas as to where to focus your search if you have a mercury problem.
RE: Mercury content in the refinery wastewater
Thanks for this great discussion. I have also found a good reference in this link : ipec.utulsa.edu/Conf2006/Papers/Braden_92.pdf
Have a nice day, guys.
RE: Mercury content in the refinery wastewater