4.

1 Gaseous waste Gaseous waste which emits from absorber mainly consists of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbon. These pollutants can be removed from airstreams either through flaring, absorption, adsorption, condensation or incineration. Each specific instance is carefully analyzed before commitment is made to any type of approach. This is to ensure that the technique is economically feasible under certain condition. Table 4.1 summarizes the limitation for each treatment method. Table 4.1: Summary of limitations for each treatment method Treatment method Flaring Limitation Flaring functioned as to recover as much as possible usable material from collected gas, to remove entrained liquids from the gases and to completely burn the remaining hydrocarbon gases. Flare system is an environmentally sound way to remove hydrocarbons from process system The flare gas recovery systems make recovery and re-use more economical. Condensation Condensation method is generally not utilized as method for removing a solvent vapor from air unless the concentration of solvent in gas is high and the solvent is worth recovery. Condensation cannot remove all the solvent but it can only be used to reduce the solvent concentration in the carrier gas Absorption Require good liquid-gas contact and proper equipment selection Optimization of absorber is important The power consumption of a modern, high-energy scrubber can be significant because of the high pressure drop involved Adsorption Dry absorbents such as activated carbon and molecular sieves can be used to remove final traces of gaseous pollutants Generally carried out in large, horizontal fixed bed and often equipped with blower, condenser, separator and control

 Typically, installation consists of two bed; one is on stream while the other is being generated. Incineration Two methods in common use : direct flame and catalytic oxidation Direct flame has lower capital cost requirement but higher operating cost particularly if auxiliary fuel is required Provides clean, odorless effluent if the exit-gas temperature is sufficiently high

Considering all the options, flare system has been chosen for treating the gaseous waste as it is more economical and it fulfills the requirement to treat the gaseous waste discharged. The advantages of using flare system are: Emission are kept at minimum Most units have safety relief valves venting to the flare system Gaseous discharged from startup and shutdown can be sent to the flare system

4.1.1 Flare system process flow The flare system consists of the following components: a) Gas collection header and piping for collecting gases from processing units b) Knock-out drum to remove and store condensable and entrained liquids c) Seal drum d) A flare stack e) Pilots and steam injection systems The flare system has a continuous pilot flame and necessary steam is added to provide the complete combustion of gases ignited by pilot flames. Waste gaseous discharged at the off line gas will be collected at the collection line. The collection line will transfer gases from valves to the flare header. The design of collection line will prevent the air from entering the flare gas collection system. The collected gaseous will then be transferred to the knockout drum through flare header. Gases and condensable and entrained liquids received will then be separated in knockout drum in

which both the liquids for disposal and gases for flare will be transferred seal drum. Seal drum will discharge liquids for disposal and gases to the flare. Apart from that, seal drum also will prevents the flame from backing down to the flare system and water will be heated to vaporize residual hydrocarbon. Gaseous discharged will be send to the flare stack. Gaseous will flow to the flare top and steam ring will inject steam into the flare tip to improve air and gas mixture and also to ensure the complete combustion. The overall process is summarized in figure 4.2.

Gases

Relief valves and collection lines

Flare header

Knockout Drum

Seal drum

Flare

Figure 4.1: Overall flare system

Figure 4.2: Flare system process flow diagram

The stack is designed in order to allow smokeless operation and ensure that a minimal amount of smoke is released. The flare stacks has the height of approximately 80 meters to eliminate the risk of exposure to flame and heat radiation. Steam is piped to the flare burner tip in order to control the flame. This will ensure that the gaseous are completely burned and protects burner tip from flame heat. In order to comply with the regulations, filter is installed at the stack gas tip and gas quality monitoring is used to monitor the level of gas release so that it is within the permissible limit. As according to Environment Quality Act (clean air) regulation 1978, the result of all tests conducted shall be expressed on the basis of flue gas containing 12% by volume of carbon dioxide. Therefore, in this process, the carbon dioxide gas released must be below 12 % by volume.

4.2 Solid Waste Handling Solid wastes are categorized into two which are hazardous and non-hazardous. The hazardous solid waste falls under schedule waste in which proper treatment method is required to dispose the waste. This is because its effects can last very long and can cause a significant hazard to human health if it is left exposed. There are several means of disposal available for solid wastes handling since these wastes will remain at the point of origin until decision is made to dispose them. The method includes recycling, chemical conversion, incineration, pyrolysis and landfill (Peter, Timmerhaus and West, 2003). Environmental regulations, overall economics and local condition are generally are taken in account in order to select the most acceptable one. Solid wastes for this process mainly consist of spent catalyst and sludge from wastewater treatment plant. Table 4.2 shows the type of solid waste disposed from this process. Table 4.2: Solid wastes and their characteristics Solid waste Spend catalyst Characteristics Fouling Sludge Construction waste (metal, brick, steel etc.) Hazardous waste (scheduled waste) May contain toxic and reactive substances Categorized under hazardous waste May contain toxic substance Can be recycled Large size waste need to be grinded first to convert it into small pieces

4.2.1 Spent catalyst: The catalyst used in this process is vanadium phosphorus oxide catalyst. This spent catalyst is categorized under scheduled waste due to its nature which flammable and reactive. Therefore, proper handling need to be implemented as this waste is hazardous to public health and environment. For this process, the spend catalyst is handled by store in metallic drum and send to the approved recovery plant.

4.2.2 Sludge: Sludge is generated from the wastewater treatment plant. The sludge will be de-watered using belt pressing to turn it into dry, lighter sludge cake before disposal. The sludge which contained also toxic waste is sent to Kualiti Alam for further treatment and disposal.

4.2.3 Construction waste: Construction wastes which consist of metals, drums, steels, unused machine falls under recycled waste. These types of wastes are not simply thrown away, but will be recycled. Some of the valuable waste such as metals will be sold to the contractors.

Overall, although there are several methods available in handling solid wastes, suitable method is chosen for the specified type of waste based on the economic consideration and their effects to environment. Landfill, incineration and chemical conversion is not proposed in this treatment method due to high cost.