When a refinery began experiencing unexplained failures in its wastewater treatment plant, the root cause wasn't obvious. The facility was not meeting discharge standards for nitrogen and other parameters, but nobody knew where the problem originated or what the right solution looked like. Rather than proposing equipment up front, CTP environment started where the problem did: with full audit studies designed to validate the right answer before committing to a full-scale investment.

The Challenge

The refinery's wastewater treatment system was failing to reduce nitrogen to compliant discharge levels. Influent nitrogen fluctuated widely, from 80 to 220 ppm, and the facility had not identified which process units and streams were contributing to the load.

The client needed to determine whether targeted, stream-specific treatment could solve the problem or whether the situation demanded a full system upgrade. Either way, they needed technical proof before committing capital.

IMG_0419

The Solution

CTP implemented a phased, data-driven approach spanning audit, engineering, and on-site validation.

The team began with a comprehensive audit of the wastewater treatment plant, then conducted detailed nitrogen-focused studies to trace contamination to individual process units and streams throughout the refinery. The analysis ruled out stream-specific treatment and identified a full biological treatment upgrade at the plant outlet as the right path forward.

To validate this before full-scale deployment, CTP mobilized a compact BIOMOBIL® Tank activated-sludge pilot unit on-site, paired with an AEROMOBIL® clarifier. The team ran the pilot for two months under real process conditions, including a one-month acclimatization phase to adapt the biomass to the refinery's specific wastewater. 

Throughout the pilot, CTP trained the client's team to operate and monitor the system independently. By the end of the project, the client ran the pilot unit without CTP's involvement for several months, demonstrating both the system's reliability and the team's readiness for full-scale operation.

IMG_0412

The Results

The pilot confirmed that the full-scale unit would bring nitrogen down to 30 ppm, proving that advanced biological nitrogen removal could perform under actual site conditions technically and operationally.

Building on the audit findings and pilot data, CTP designed a full-scale treatment solution: a complete activated-sludge process with nitrification and denitrification, providing the client with a validated, data-backed design basis and the confidence to proceed with implementation.