National Iranian South Oil Company plans to build its first industrial wastewater treatment plant beside Ahvaz Oil Desalting Complex in Khuzestan Province to optimize the use of water resources and curb the release of pollutants.
“The plant’s technical and economic feasibility studies have been carried out and NISOC is preparing the terms of a tender for the project,” Bijan Alipour, the state-owned company’s managing director, was quoted as saying by the official news portal of the National Iranian Oil Company.
Alipour added that in the current fiscal year (started March 21), equipment will be provided, following which the plant’s operational work will commence.
Industrial wastewater treatment covers mechanisms and processes used to treat wastewater produced as a byproduct of industrial or commercial activities.
According to the official, as a significant volume of effluent is produced in petroleum desalting facilities, the launch of such industrial wastewater treatment plants is essential to preserve the environment.
Currently, the industrial wastewater of Ahvaz Oil Desalting Complex is released into a sanitary sewer.
The purpose of desalting is to remove impurities, especially salts and water, from crude oil prior to distillation.
Underscoring that the optimal use of water resources, which includes reusing wastewater, is one of NISOC’s priorities, Alipour said that in the first phase, the plant will have the capacity to treat 5,000 barrels of desalted effluent per day, the water output of which will be reused in the oil desalting facility.
About other uses of treating industrial wastewater, the official noted that in addition to extracting industrial water from oil effluents, the wastewater contains minerals that can be used to produce hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and pure salt with high profitability.
Alipour stressed that in the next phases, the plant may be able to produce water for agricultural uses.
