Repositorio Digital

Resumen en español

Thermochemical conversion of oil sludge (OS) residues from crude oil refinery was studied as an alternative for treatment and energy recovery before OS final disposal. A simulation model for OS gasification was developed and validated by using AspenPlus™ V 11.0. Three scenarios by considering different gasifying agents were evaluated, aiming the assessment of different gasification parameters and performance indexes such as gasification temperature, cold-gas efficiency, syngas yield, and LHV. To evaluate the potential use of syngas to generate electricity, three different prime movers such as steam Rankine cycle, gas microturbine, and gas-Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) were modeled. A hydrogen-rich syngas from OS gasification with air/steam mixture was reached (38.2 vol%) at ER 0.20. Syngas LHV and syngas yield ranged between 8.6 and 3.0 MJ/Nm3 and 0.6–1.3 Nm3/kg OS, when ER was increased from 0.25 to 0.45, respectively. The highest energy recovery potential (electricity generation) was obtained when using syngas to power a gas-ICE, with a generation index of about 0.47 kWh/kg-OS at ER ratio of 0.25. Therefore, OS thermochemical conversion into syngas and its subsequent use to generate electricity could be a technological alternative to oily residues management inside an oil refinery that could efficiently transform a dangerous residue into electricity.