Mobil Corp. figures a waste reduction campaign at its five U.S. refineries saved more than $2 million in waste disposal costs during 1991.
Goals for 1992 include a further reduction of at least 10% in wastes transported from refineries for off site disposal.
Standard techniques in the program involve the return of spent catalyst to manufacturers for metals reclamation, use of catalyst dust residues by cement manufacturers rather than disposal in approved landfills, and recycling of some hazardous wastes by means of Mobil's patented sludge coking process. The program has sharply cut the amount of hazardous and other wastes hauled to approved disposal sites from Mobil refineries. Reductions range from 11% at Beaumont, Tex., to 45% at Joliet, Ill., and 80% at Torrance, Calif.
Mobil's Paulsboro, N.J., refinery uses in situ bioremediation to restore soil contaminated by hydrocarbons. The company's Chalmette, La., refinery has installed a new process that cuts waste water discharge and water consumption through recycling.
The program for 1992 will stress employee awareness of and participation in waste reduction, audits of various process units, and improved methods for tracking wastes.
Mobil's U.S. refineries, with combined crude oil distillation capacity of 838,000 b/d, set several plant records last year (OGJ, June 1, p. 46).
The company's U.S. motor gasoline production in 1991 was 442,000 b/d, or 58% percent of refinery input. Mobil reckons that's one of the highest percentages in the industry.
Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
