Scope of Work

Emerging Technologies…

…and Approaches to Minimize Discharges into Lake

Objectives

The objectives of this multi-institutional project are to (1) screen emerging technologies that could address wastewater treatment challenges faced by energy company BP and other entities along the Great Lakes; and (2) to conduct a comparative analysis of related discharge issues that might help policymakers and technology developers better understand and address environmental concerns.

BP will use this information to investigate whether any of the screened technologies could be applied at its Whiting, Ind., refinery, before renewal of the refinery’s discharge permit in 2012, to reduce environmental impacts while preserving the commercial viability of its planned investment.

BP is planning to reconfigure the Whiting refinery to process more Canadian heavy crude oil. There is a strong regional benefit to identify and implement technologies that maintain water quality in Lake Michigan.

Background

There is a need, by BP and other entities, to find sustainable approaches to mitigate wastewater discharges along the Great Lakes. BP is planning a considerable modernization investment at its Whiting, Ind., refinery to process Canadian heavy crude oil, and, thus, is interested in proactively seeking emerging technologies that may be utilized to meet the future environmental needs of the facility.

In addition, any promising technology identified by this effort may benefit other organizations facing similar issues and help maintain Great Lakes quality. Technologies are needed that (1) allow increased removal of ammonia and total suspended solids (TSS) from industrial wastewater; and (2) allow advanced reduction/removal of mercury, vanadium and other heavy metals from industrial wastewater to meet future stringent regulatory limits.

This effort will advance fundamental understanding of the applicability, reliability and sustainability of emerging technologies to address BP’s wastewater treatment needs.

Also, wastewater discharges to Lake Michigan are poorly reported on a comparative basis. This project will include a comprehensive assessment of the scale and scope of discharges into Lake Michigan, with the goal of helping prioritize treatment needs and technology development/deployment opportunities for the screened approaches.

To meet BP’s time requirements, this study has been divided into short-term (1-9 months) and long-term (1-24 months) tasks. This document focuses primarily on the short-term tasks in the first phase and provides an introductory description of the longer term tasks. A more detailed scope of work and budget for the long-term tasks will be prepared while the first phase of work is underway.

1. Project Management

This task includes activities that are essential for the proper function and transparency of project activities. These activities include:
1.1 The project team will establish bi-weekly conference calls and monthly meetings. Additional meetings will be scheduled as required. Open communication paths will be established with BP technical representatives.
1.2 Determine project resource needs and subcontract with technical experts from other organizations
1.3 Establish a process to ensure integrity of the project.
1.4 Determine standard protocols of investigation, Quality Assurance (QA) methodologies and ranking criteria to ensure technical integrity and uniformity in evaluation.
1.5 The Purdue University Calumet Water Institute is responsible for the overall management of the project, including managing and administering sub-contractor relationships.

Phase I: Short term Tasks
2. Screen emerging technologies to help the immediate need for the BP Whiting Refinery to meet current discharge permit limits for Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Ammonia after refinery modernization. This also may include analytical methods to detect contaminants, such as oil and suspended solids.

2.1 Visit Whiting Refinery and request information on current technologies, challenges from current operations and future refinery modernization. The data acquisition process begins by reviewing available technical information concerning refinery processes and the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operations at the BP Whiting refinery. Data acquisition includes, but is not limited to:

• Refinery operations and processes, inputs/outputs, water use and waste steams;
• Water flow chart and piping network of BP’s water treatment facility;
• Total volume of water withdrawal and discharge, and mass flow rate;
• Location of the WWTP, availability of land space, and other logistic issues;
• Origin and concentration of ammonia and TSS;
• Composition, structure, type, and particle size distribution of TSS;
• Permit limits, regulatory documentation;
• Discharge methods; and
• Technology options already evaluated by BP.

2.2 Conduct an extensive search of available technologies at different levels of development and deployment to determine their applicability to remove ammonia and TSS – with focus on performance, time to commercial viability, testing information, cost and possible constraints.
An extensive review of technical literature is to be performed. Numerous sources of information are to be explored, including research organizations, academic institutions, national labs, private and public industries, engineering and consulting businesses, etc. Plans call for this information to be analyzed critically to:

• Assess the effectiveness, reliability and sustainability of each technology:
  • Experimental and numerical studies begin, based on the data available, with completion of the work to be carried out in the second phase of the project.
  • Pilot testing/demonstration needs are to be highlighted for subsequent work.
• Identify the benefits and limitations of individual technologies to BP Whiting’s wastewater treatment facility needs in particular, and to the treatment of industrial wastewater in general.
• Evaluate the operational and peak loading and concentration ranges of ammonia and TSS for each of these technologies and compare to the data obtained from BP’s WWTP in Whiting. Determine potential applicability to the Whiting facility.
• Identify the impact of implementing each of the selected emerging technologies on effluent discharge from BP’s WWTP and in relation to other effluent discharges into Lake Michigan (in coordination with Task 3), including cross-media impacts.

This study is to be conducted by a panel of experts from Purdue University Calumet, Argonne National Laboratory, and other scientific/engineering organizations, and is to be based, where available, on current industry/regulatory standards and methodologies.

2.3 At the 3-month milestone, provide an initial list of the most promising technologies and processes, with a rationale as to their benefits, stage of development and time to commercialization, cost, concerns and path to implementation. Concerns described could include “life-cycle” environmental considerations—e.g. energy demands and generation of additional materials for handling and disposal.

2.4 Provide a final list of most promising technologies and processes at the 6-month milestone.

2.5 The last three months (of the first 9-month phase) are to be spent conducting additional educational outreach activities such as a lecture series, seminars, etc. 

3. Conduct a comparative analysis of discharges into the Great Lakes (by industry, municipalities, etc.) and their environmental implications. This study has objectives of improving public information, policy making, and expanding the range of applicability of the selected technologies beyond the needs of BP Whiting.

This study initially compares the level of effluent loadings of ammonia and related species of nitrogen, total suspended solids and heavy metals of concern (Mercury, Vanadium, others) into southern Lake Michigan from point and non-point dischargers.
In Phase II, this work is to be expanded to cover the whole Lake Michigan area and additional contaminants of concern. Effluent loadings of ammonia and total suspended solids within the study area fall into two general categories: point and non-point discharges. Both categories are being characterized in this study. However, different methodologies are being used due to the nature of available effluent discharge information for each category.

Point source discharges are being characterized based on data obtained from environmental permits and reports obtained through federal and state regulatory agencies. Primarily, this consists of permits and reports filed under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). These permits and reports are being examined and a database of effluent loading information and a related geographic information system (GIS) for displaying results developed for major sources within the study area. The database is to include information on effluent characteristics and location.

Characterization of non-point sources, which are not as rigorously permitted as point sources, are based on information available in the scientific literature and governmental reports. To the extent possible this data is being included in the database system; however, it is anticipated that data will be more qualitative in nature than for point sources.

In Phase I, the study area is being limited to the watershed of the southern basin of Lake Michigan. In Phase II, the study is being expanded to cover the entire Lake Michigan area.

Many site specific factors influence the health and environmental impacts of effluent discharges into the environment, full understanding of which may be beyond the reach of this task. However, this study phase describes the relative risk and likely environmental fate and transport of the discharges of contaminants of concern in the study area.

4. Education and outreach. The outcomes of the proposed activities are to be presented at seminars and lecture series at participating institutions. The scope of these seminars is intended to center on reliable and sustainable emerging technologies for removal/reduction of pollutants from industrial wastewater, and comparative discharge issues around the Great Lakes. Beyond publication on this Web site, the outcomes are to be presented at technical conferences, wastewater summits and conference proceedings.

Phase II, Longer term - Abstract
5. Find emerging technologies deployable to meet the limits specified by the new permit, which will come into effect in 2012. In particular, technologies are necessary to remove mercury to meet the new permit limit of 1.3 ppt monthly average. This is the first time the BP Whiting refinery has had a mercury permit limit. Other contaminants of concern include vanadium and other metals (such as cadmium).

This task is to be developed similarly to Task 1, but focusing on such heavy metals as mercury, vanadium, cadmium and/or others as determined in conjunction with BP technical representatives and after the data acquisition step.

6. Test at the pilot scale the selected most promising approaches to develop the necessary data for complete evaluation of their performance, reliability, sustainability and applicability to the performance goals.

The most promising approaches for TSS, ammonia and metals are to be evaluated for testing and demonstration needs. In concert with technology owners/developers, a testing plan will be formulated and carried out to integrate existing information and allow for a subsequent go-no go decision. Such tests may include:

• Testing emerging technology potential to mitigate Lake discharges of ammonia and TSS
• Testing emerging technology potential to mitigate Lake discharges of metals
• Testing technologies and processes with simulated wastewater with individual discharge effluents
• Testing technologies and processes with complex wastewater streams
• Develop initial process design and cost estimates for selected technology

7. Complete numerical simulations and Life Cycle Analysis

Numerical simulation efforts begun in phase I are to be completed with the input of data from pilot testing. This task could also include an overview study that would compare the different pollution control technology options on a life cycle basis, analyzing fluxes of materials, pollutants, energy, water and cost over the process lifecycle.

8. Expand Comparative analysis to complete Lake Michigan.

The data collection and analysis methodologies utilized for the comparative analysis of discharges into the southern basin of Lake Michigan are to be expanded to cover discharges into the whole Lake Michigan area.

Project Team

To maintain transparency and integrity of this research project, the primary investigators—Purdue University Calumet Water Institute and Argonne National Laboratory—are establishing a direct line of communication with regulators (Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the United States Environmental Protection Agency). We propose that non-government organizations, interested communities and other stakeholders communicate with the project team via this Web site.

Dr. George Nnanna of the Purdue Calumet Water Institute and M. Cristina Negri of Argonne National Laboratory are leading the project. The intellectual capacity and experience base necessary to implement the proposed research, tackle technical challenges, and achieve success are being made available by both institutions.

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this research, several faculty members from Purdue Calumet’s Departments of Engineering, Chemistry & Physics, and Biological Sciences are participating in the project. Purdue Calumet has well equipped laboratories in high performance computing, life sciences, chemical analysis, and computational analysis. In addition, the Water Institute Research Fellow, Post-Doctoral Associates and graduate students are devoting significant effort to this project.

Argonne has significant capabilities that are being leveraged for the success of this project. The scientific/engineering staff assigned to this project has significant expertise in chemical engineering, civil engineering, technology development, testing and analysis, and also the necessary expertise in regulatory processes and legislation, environmental impact assessment methodologies and processes, and modeling and simulation capabilities for cost analysis, process scale-up and economic evaluation. Staff members with direct experience with refinery technologies and many of the significant industrial processes found along Lake Michigan also are participating in the project.

The Purdue Calumet Water Institute/Argonne National Laboratory task force is seeking out the most qualified experts from other academic institutions, national laboratories, and private organizations and government, retaining them as consultants to achieve the project goal.

Drs. Nnanna and Negri are assigned the responsibility of project management, coordination of project schedule and budget, and they serve as the technical points of contact with BP and other government agencies.

It is planned that the Purdue Calumet Water Institute and Argonne teams will collaborate on most tasks on a comparable effort level; however, each task will be led by one of the two organizations. Tasks 1 and 4 are being jointly managed by the Purdue Calumet Water Institute and Argonne National Laboratory, while tasks 2 and 3 are being led by the Purdue Calumet Water Institute and Argonne National Laboratory, respectively. The Purdue Calumet Water Institute is responsible for the overall management of the project.

To facilitate communication, the Purdue Calumet Water Institute, Argonne, BP and the consultants are evaluating progress and resolving technical questions. A telephone conference or a joint meeting is to be held every month throughout the duration of this project. Specific dates, time and location of meetings are being determined.

Deliverables

The following deliverables are being generated:
A. Development of a communication and stakeholder engagement plan (1-month deliverable)
B. Progress report on Task 2 (3-month deliverable)
C. Task reports on emerging technologies (and applications) to improve wastewater management effectiveness
D. Report on comparative analysis of relative discharges and their fate and transport into the Lake Michigan environment
E. Dissemination of research results through seminars and publications is subject deliverable A.
F. Financial reports

Schedule

We anticipate the short-term project duration to run for 9 months, the final report is to submitted at the 6th month; the educational outreach is to continue through the 9th month. The review of emerging technologies starts immediately and runs concurrently to the comparative analysis of discharge study.