Conventional and microwave drying of hydrocarbon cutting sludge

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to investigate the drying kinetics and determine the effectiveness of conventional and microwave drying processes for drying of hydrocarbon cutting sludge which is one of the most important waste occurring from petroleum and natural gas cutting activities. Drying experiments of hydrocarbon cutting sludge were performed at MW power levels of 120, 460, and 600 W using microwave dryer and at drying temperatures of 140°C and 180°C. The sample weights were selected as 50, 100, and 150 g. Energy consumption values were determined, according to the microwave power levels, drying temperature, drying times, moisture ratio, as 0.01–0.11 kW/h for microwave, and as 0.11–0.55 kW/h for conventional drying processes. The results showed that the microwave drying was the more effective drying process in terms of drying times and energy consumption. Furthermore, as a result of the statistical analysis, the most suitable model among five drying models was determined according to the χ2, es, and r criteria. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13104, 2019

Drying of Drill Cuttings: Emphasis on Energy Consumption and Thermal Analysis

“…The drying times of the microwave dryer for 120, 350, and 600 W microwave powers were; 22, 14, and 8 min, respectively, for 50 g samples; 52, 13, and 12 min for 100 g samples, and 65, 19, and 8 min for 150 g samples. Past studies have showed that drying times for microwave drying of hydrocarbon drilling sludge decreased with increasing microwave power levels, whereas drying time increased with increasing layer thickness of the sample [6,31]. Tınmaz Köse et al [6] reported that drying times were found as 8.5, 2.5, and 2 s for 50 g samples; 37.5, 6.5, and 5 s for 150 g samples at 120, 460, and 600 W, respectively.…”

“…Past studies have showed that drying times for microwave drying of hydrocarbon drilling sludge decreased with increasing microwave power levels, whereas drying time increased with increasing layer thickness of the sample [6,31]. Tınmaz Köse et al [6] reported that drying times were found as 8.5, 2.5, and 2 s for 50 g samples; 37.5, 6.5, and 5 s for 150 g samples at 120, 460, and 600 W, respectively. Tınmaz Köse et al [31] concluded that when microwave power level was increased from 120 W to 700 W, the drying time decreased from 48 min to 5.5 min.…”

“…Previous studies [6,31] reported that energy consumption values for microwave drying of hydrocarbon drilling sludge decreased with increasing microwave power levels because of decreasing drying time. Tınmaz Köse et al [6] found that energy consumptions values for microwave power levels of 120 W, 460 W, and 600 W were recorded as between 0.03 and 0.11 kWh, 0.02 and 0.08 kWh, and 0.01 and 0.07 kWh, respectively. Tınmaz Köse et al [31] determined that energy consumptions for microwave power levels of 700 and 120 W were 0.11 and 0.16 kW/h, respectively.…”

“…Drill cuttings are characterized by their high moisture content and low bulk density, which result in a low conversion efficiency as well as difficulties in its collection, storage, and transportation. The level of moisture content of drill cuttings is a critical factor that determines its disposal options [4][5][6].…”

“…In previous literature, it was emphasized that microwave drying was a cost-effective and time-efficient system for the management of waste that was contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons [2,6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. It also has several advantages with respect to the environment such as being a cleaner energy source, and being more energy-saving [6,[21][22][23][24]. Conveyor belt dryers are versatile and suitable dryers for drying of varied products such as nuts, animal feeds, briquettes, rubbers [25], and biofuels [26].…”