OPTIMIZATION OF PARAMETERS FOR THE REDUCTION AND RECOVERY OF HEAVY FUEL OIL WASTE: THE CASE OF JIRAMA ANALAMANGA, MADAGASCAR

PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

Heavy fuel oil is the main fuel providing the energy needed to operate the Jirama thermal power plants. It is a toxic substance that is difficult to manage and store because of its viscosity, ease of explosion and corrosiveness. Jirama uses metal drums to store the fuel oil waste generated daily at these power plants, which creates a congestion problem at the power plant and an additional budgetary burden for the company. The aim of this research work is to find a suitable solution to reduce the volume of waste fuel oil generated by the power plant and an appropriate technology to treat and recover this waste fuel oil for various purposes. The result of the research has shown that, firstly, two treatment and recovery technologies are possible: centrifugation and dry distillation, but the latter is the most appropriate; secondly, lateritic soil is the appropriate material, capable of reducing the volume of waste fuel oil by using it as a support during the dry distillation process; thirdly, the method of storage in metal drums practised by Jirama is no longer necessary, given the ideal granulometry of the lateritic soil. This granulometry plays an important role in reducing the volume of waste fuel oil generated by the plant and eliminating the method of storage in barrels. Two ranges of granulometry are the most interesting: range 1 (upper 0.400 mm, lower 0.800 mm) for reduction and range 2 (lower 0.400 mm) for the elimination of storage in metal drums. After dry distillation tests using range 1 as a carrier, two (2) types of oil close to heavy fuel oils were obtained: No. 6 fuel oil and intermediate fuel oil. Thus, for every 200 ml of heavy fuel oil waste treated, 37.8% are crude oils that can be reused in the power plant. Other research work is in progress, such as the biological recycling of the lateritic soil, which is red in color and has become blackish after dry distillation.

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