Chemistry Project Abstract
THE EFFECTS OF METHANOL ON WASTEWATER REFINERY TREATMENT
Presenter:
Carlo J. Ordonez, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 W. Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL 60506; carlo@imsa.edu
Mentor:
Dr. Yvette Baxter-Drayton, Hydrocarbon and Environmental Management, BP, 150 W. Warrenville Road, Naperville, IL 60563-8460
Abstract:
Wastewater treatment plants are created to remove many impurities from the water. These treatment plants can only handle certain limitations of pollutants in the wastewater. For example, many plants are designed to handle only a specific level of COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) or BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand). BOD and COD are interrelated. If either of the levels are exceeded, complications may occur, ranging from a lowering of plant efficiency up to the shutting down of a plant. Methanol is a compound known to increase the COD of wastewater. Using a respirometer and wastewater and activated sludge from the BP Whiting refinery, the effects of different amounts of methanol on the water’s BOD were tested. From the analysis of results, it appears that methanol does increase the BOD of wastewater, but starts to have toxic results at around a 40% (120 mg/l) increase in COD. Further testing will be undergone to investigate the different mechanisms by which activated sludge can biodegrade higher concentrations of methanol.