Gazprom Neft’s Omsk Refinery beings the installation of water treatment systems at its “Biosphere” complex

Omsk, June 11 - Neftegaz.RU. The Gazprom Neft Omsk Refinery has begun installing flotation treatment systems at the site of its future “Biosphere” biological treatment facilities, currently under construction. The biosphere will increase the efficiency of water treatments to 99.99%, thanks to which the Omsk Refinery will be able to move over to virtually closed-cycle water consumption, reducing demands on local city wastewater treatment plants.

The unique environmental Biosphere project forms part of the Omsk Refinery’s full-scale development programme, itself part of the holistic federal “Clean Air” project, part of the national “Ecology” programme. The company’s total investments in the project stand at RUB 19 billion. Construction works are expected to be completed in 2021.

The flotation system forms part of the multi-stage water treatment process to be offered by the Biosphere, with all industrial effluents and storm drainage from the plant passing through mechanical, flotation and biological treatment facilities, as well as membrane and charcoal filters, in turn. In the main part of the complex - the bioreactor - water is mixed with a special sludge, containing microorganisms that absorb oil-product residues.

The cleaned waster is then also disinfected with ultraviolet light and returned to the production cycle, while the recovered petroleum products are sent for recycling. Thanks to the technology in the Biosphere, reusing this purified water will allow the Omsk Refinery to make a 2.5-fold reduction in its water consumption.

Cutting-edge pressure-flotation technology will be deployed at the Biosphere complex - with oil-product residues being removed from the water by aerodynamic flows, in special hermetically sealed containers. Three of the 9 flotation units envisaged under this project have already been installed at the construction site.

Company specialists have, prior to this, also completed installation of equipment for the tank unit responsible for initial mixing of the full volume of industrial water prior to it being sent for subsequent water treatments. Installation of the disinfection and biological treatment units remains ongoing. Omsk-based contractors are among those involved in these works.

“Our focus in our plant modernisation projects is on new environmental standards and using technologies that mean we can improve production processes and natural-resources management. Developing a modern oil refinery these days involves not just continuous efficiency gains, but also systemic reductions in environmental impacts. The Omsk Refinery is addressing these objectives holistically, and deploying cutting-edge technological experience in doing so”, said Oleg Belyavsky CEO, Gazprom Neft Omsk Refinery.