AIPU’s Oil Sludge Treatment System Successfully Deployed On-Site

Recently, AIPU’s advanced Oil Sludge Treatment System has been successfully transported to the client’s site and officially put into operation. This equipment system provides a complete, efficient, low-cost, and resource-recycling solution for the treatment of oil sludge—a major pollutant in the petroleum industry. It effectively separates oil, water, and solid phases for recovery and reuse, significantly reducing environmental risks and disposal costs while assisting companies in achieving green production and compliant discharge.

Oil sludge, a typical mixture of oil, water, and solids, is one of the main pollutants generated during petroleum extraction, transportation, and refining. It features high density, high viscosity, and difficulty in dewatering, with an oil content typically ranging between 10%-50% and water content as high as 50%-90%. Its composition is complex, including not only aged crude oil, asphalt, colloids, and solid particles, but also heavy metals, chemical additives, and various toxic and hazardous substances. As early as 1998, this type of sludge was classified as a national hazardous waste (HW08) and must undergo harmless treatment before disposal.

The oil sludge treatment system, which combines chemical thermal washing with multi-stage separation to effectively address the challenges of treating oily sludge. During the process, specialized chemicals are first added to thermally wash the sludge, breaking the emulsified state among oil, water, and solids to facilitate separation. The material then enters AIPU’s solid-control equipment for multi-stage separation, ultimately yielding recoverable oil, reusable water, and low-oil-content solids.

After treatment, the recovered oil is of good quality and can be directly sold to refineries for reuse. The water phase is clear and meets standards for reuse in thermal washing, enabling it to be recycled into the front-end process and significantly reducing fresh water consumption. The separated solids have an oil content of less than 2% and can undergo further treatment such as thermal desorption or biodegradation, reducing the oil content to below 0.3% and achieving complete harmless disposal.