🇸🇦 Jubail Refinery Turnaround Wastewater
Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia
Project Overview
A 400,000 BPD Saudi refinery required a 6-week turnaround across 8 process units. Wastewater flows were expected to peak at ~12,000 m³/day — roughly 8× normal — and contained hydrocarbons, caustic, spent cleaning chemicals, and heat-exchanger fouling products that exceeded the existing ETP capacity.
The Challenge
The refinery's installed effluent treatment plant could not handle the turnaround surge. Any water-side bottleneck would directly delay return-to-service for the cracker and hydrotreater units, with significant lost-margin exposure per day of delay.
WFS Solution
WFS deployed a temporary 12,000 m³/day rental train: equalization tankage, primary oil-water separation, two large-skid DAF units, multimedia filtration, and biological polishing tied into the refinery's existing outfall. A resident WFS operations crew ran the train 24/7 for the turnaround duration.
Technologies Applied
- ▸Equalization & Surge Storage
- ▸API Oil-Water Separation
- ▸Large-Skid DAF (XL Train)
- ▸Multimedia Filtration
- ▸Biological Polishing
Results Achieved
Performance Outcomes
- ✓Peak flow of 11,800 m³/day treated to refinery's discharge spec
- ✓Zero regulatory exceedances over the 6-week turnaround
- ✓No turnaround delay attributable to water handling
- ✓Operator awarded WFS the next two turnarounds under the same framework
Your Project Could Be Next
Talk to a WFS engineer about your specific water challenge.