The tank cleaning technology can increase the amount of oil recovered from the sludge by more than three times compared to existing methods, while reducing the amount of waste generated by about 70 percent. (image: SK Incheon Petrochem)
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — SK Incheon Petrochem Co., a South Korean producer of petrochemical products, said Wednesday it had developed eco-friendly tank cleaning technology that can greatly reduce the amount of waste generated by oil storage facilities.
Oil storage facilities at oil refining and petrochemical plants, in general, remove sludge inside tanks on a regular basis to prevent corrosion and deterioration in the quality of petrochemical products.
To this end, the three phase separation method has been mainly used thus far. This method uses a centrifuge to separate water, oil and waste after removing the sludge from the tanks.
This method, however, generates a large amount of compound wastes that are a mixture of oils and wastes due to its low processing efficiency. In addition, it generates unpleasant odors since the tanks must remain open during the cleaning process.
To address such shortcomings, SK Incheon Petrochem developed eco-friendly tank cleaning technology by leveraging its in-depth know-how on the operation of oil storage facilities and its state-of-the-art oil recovery technologies.
The company said that this technology can increase the amount of oil recovered from the sludge by more than three times compared to existing methods, while reducing the amount of waste generated by about 70 percent.
In addition, since the entire process is completed inside the tank, the new procedure generates almost no odors.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
