Adjoining the town of St. Rose, Louisiana (along the east bank of the lower Mississippi River) is a 1000 acre bulk storage tank terminal. This facility owned by International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMTT) has a total of 150 tanks ranging in size from 40,000 gallons to 500,000 barrels for the storage of petroleum products, alcohols, and all grades of vegetable oil.

Challenge

International - Matex Tank Terminal (IMTT) needed to treat vegetable oil residue from product spills, tank washings and dock runoff.  The terminal utilized an offsite treatment process, however with the containment of concern vegetable oil (with soluble and insoluble components), the most efficient and cost effective treatment to remove these components was with pretreatment via an oil/water separator and a induced air flotation system to remove insoluble components and bacteria or aerobic treatment to remove soluble components.

Solution

In order to treat the vegetable oil residue from product spills, tank washings, and dock runoff, IMTT chose to install the OMNIFLO® Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) system.  This biological treatment process is a fill-and-draw, non-steady state activated sludge process in which one or more reactor basins are filled with wastewater during a discrete time period, and then operated in a batch treatment model.  The OMNIFLO SBR system accomplishes equalization, aeration, and clarification in a time sequence in a single reactor basin.  

Through the use of an SBR system, mixing and aeration in a single reactor basin is accomplished and bacteria are allowed to settle, with the water decanted off the top. Bacteria then multiply as they consume the organic material. Occasionally, bacteria needs to be removed to maintain the optimum concentration for organic removal. This bacteria is then placed in a tank and aerated. In the absence of other organic compounds the bacteria will consume each other and reduce their mass. This process is known as digestion. The bacteria residue is known as sludge and requires disposal. This sludge is a good fertilizer and in this case will be used as a fertizer at a local nursery.

International-Matex Tank Terminal in St. Rose, Louisiana

Results

The OMNIFLO SBR sytem consistently produces excellent effluent with the  automated control package an extremely reliable system requiring minimal operator attention.