Applicability of the biological activated carbon process to the tertiary treatment of refinery wastewater for reuse purposes

It is generally accepted that the Clean Water Act (1977) gave an impetus to the reuse of wastewater. Recycling of cooling water has always received considerable attention by refineries because it represents as much as 90% of refinery water usage. It has been shown that to minimize makeup water (and thus increase recycling), either the evaporation rate and/or the blowdown must be reduced. This can be accomplished by minimizing the amount of contaminants added to the system, or in other words, improve the quality of the makeup water. The biological activated carbon (BAC) process was tested as an advanced treatment technology for the production of a reusable effluent of a high quality in terms of organic matter.