Application of a New Method in Identifying the Sludge Deposits from Refineries and Gas Plants: A Case of Laboratory-Based Study

Abstract EN

This article reports the application of a new method in identifying the accumulated sludge deposits (e.g., oily sludge, water sludge, and filter sludge).

The method is an excellent approach for identifying the inorganic materials found in sludge deposits generated in refineries and gas plants.

The phase identification and quantification on inorganic material in the form of corrosion products are important to facilitate chemical cleaning and prevent the reoccurrence to stop the generation of sludges.

Therefore, the authors developed a new method to separate the inorganic materials from the hydrocarbon of the as-received sludge samples from the fields.

When the sample preparation was taken with great care, the results revealed that this method is fast and can accurately identify very small quantities (>0.5 wt%) of sludge deposits present in the sample.

Additionally, if the color of the dichloromethane soluble part collected is changed, it indicates the presence of hydrocarbon in the sludge.

Thermal gravimetric analysis results revealed that the sludge contained approximately 3 wt% of inorganic compound, 25 wt% of water, and 72 wt% of hydrocarbon.

Subsequently, gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis results revealed that the type of hydrocarbon was diesel with the C10–C27.