OISD-109

Amended

edition

FOR RESTRICTED
CIRCULATION

PROCESS DESIGN AND OPERATING PHILOSOPHIES

ON
BLOWDOWN AND SEWER SYSTEM

OISD-STANDARD - 109
First Edition, November 1988
Amended edition, August, 1999

Oil Industry Safety Directorate

Government of India
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

II

OISD-STANDARD-109
First Edition
November 1988
Amended edition,
August 1999

FOR RESTRICTED
CIRCULATION

PROCESS DESIGN AND OPERATING PHILOSOPHIES

ON
BLOWDOWN AND SEWER SYSTEM

Prepared by :

COMMITTEE ON
PROCESS DESIGN AND OPERATING PHILOSOPHIES

OIL INDUSTRY SAFETY DIRECTORATE

2nd Floor, Kailash,
26, Kasturba Gandhi Marg,

III

NEW DELHI 110 001

NOTE
OISD publications are prepared for use in the oil and gas industry under
the administrative control of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and shall
not be reproduced or copied and loaned or exhibited to others without written
consent from OISD.
Though every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and
reliability of the data contained in these documents, OISD hereby expressly
disclaims any liability or responsibility for loss or damage resulting from their
use.
These documents are intended to supplement rather than replace the
prevailing statutory requirements.

Note
1
in
superscript
indicates
the
modification/changes/addition based on the amendments
approved in the 17th Safety Council meeting held in July, 1999.

IV

FOREWORD

The oil industry in India is nearly 100 years old. As such a variety of
practices have been in vogue because of collaboration/association with different
foreign companies and governments. Standardisation in design philosophies,
operating and maintenance practices at national level was hardly in existence.
This, coupled with feed back from some serious accidents that occurred in the
recent past in India and abroad, emphasised the need for the industry to review
the existing state of art in designing, operating and maintaining oil and gas
installations.
With this in view, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in 1986
constituted a Safety Council assisted by the Oil Industry Safety Directorate
(OISD), staffed from within the industry in formulating and implementing a series
of self-regulatory measures aimed at removing obsolescence, standardising and
upgrading the existing standards to ensure safer operations. Accordingly OISD
constituted a number of functional committees comprising of experts nominated
from the industry to draw up standards and guidelines on various subjects.
The present document, on Blowdown and Sewer System was prepared,
by the Functional Committee on Process Design and Operating Philosophies.
This document is based on the accumulated knowledge and experience of
industry members and the various national and international codes and practices.
It is hoped that the provision of this document, if implemented objectively may go
a long way to improve the safety and reduce accidents in the oil and gas
industry.
Suggestions are invited from the users for further improvement in the
standard after it is put into practice. Suggestions for amendments to this
document should be addressed to :
The Co-ordinator,
Committee on Process Design and Operating Philosophies
Oil Industry Safety Directorate
2nd Floor, Kailash,
26, Kasturba Gandhi Marg,
NEW DELHI 110 001.

COMMITTEE
ON
PROCESS DESIGN AND OPERATING PHILOSOPHIES
List of Members
S.No.

Name

Designation &
Organisation

Position in
Committee

1.

Shri W.D. Lande

Dy. Gen. Mgr.

HPCL

Member
Leader

2.

Shri G. Raghunathan

Ch. Manager,
HPCL

Co-opted
Member

3.

Shri N. Lal

Dy. Gen. Manager,

ONGC

Member

4.

Shri N.N. Gogoi

Dy. Gen. Mgr.,

OIL

Member

5.

Shri S.V. Puthli

Sr. Manager,
HPCL

Member

6.

Shri M.A. Sreekumar

Sr. Manager,
CRL

Member

8.

Shri A. Vardarajan

Sr. Manager,
MRL

Member

9.

Shri B.K. Trehan

Addl. Director,
OISD

Member,
Co-ordinator

In addition to the above, several other experts from industry contributed in the preparation, review and finalisation of this
document.

VI

PROCESS DESIGN AND OPERATING PHILOSOPHIES

ON
BLOWDOWN AND SEWER SYSTEM
CONTENTS
SECTION
1.0

INTRODUCTION

2.0

SCOPE

3.0
3.1
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.1.3
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.3
3.3.1
3.32
3.3.3

CLASSIFICATION OF BLOWDOWN STREAMS

Classification Based on Composition
Aqueous Blowdown
Hydrocarbon Blowdown
Chemical Blowdown
Classification based on Temperature
Hot Blowdown
Cryogenic Blowdown
Classification Based on Volatility & Viscosity
Volatile
Non-Volatile
Viscous/Congealing

4.0
4.1
4.1.1
4.1.2

SAFE HANDLING
Aqueous Blowdown
Aqueous Blowdown - Continuous in Nature
Aqueous Blowdown Likely to Contain Volatile
Hydrocarbon
Boiler Blowdown - Continuous
Water Draw-off from Crude Oil Tanks
Other Aqueous Blowdown - Intermittent in Nature
Hydrocarbon Blowdown
Draining/Venting from LPG/Cryogenic Product Pumps
Draining/Venting from LPG/Cryogenic Product Pumps
Draining of Equipment for Shutdown
Sample Points
Gas-Condensate Blowdown
Emergency Blowdown
Blowdown from LPG and Other Cryogenic Vessels
Furnace Blowdown
Chemical Blowdown

4.1.3
4.1.4
4.1.5
4.2
4.2.1
4.2.2
4.2.3
4.2.4
4.2.5
4.3
4.3.1
4.3.2
4.4

5.0
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.3.1
5.3.2
5.3.3
5.3.4
5.4
5.4.1
5.4.2
5.4.3
5.5
5.5.1
5.5.2
5.5.3

DISPOSAL OF BLOWDOWN
Closed Pressured System
Sewer Drain System
Type of Sewers
Type of Sewers
Storm Water Sewers
Chemical Sewers
Sanitary Water Sewers
Basic Design Guidelines for Oily-Water Sewers
Layout of Oily Sewers
Capacity
Material of construction
Special Sewers
Asphalt Sewers
Waxy Drains
Drains at Remote Locations

6.0

REFERENCES

FIGURES
1a, b
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Aqueous Blowdown - Continuous in Nature

Aqueous Blowdown - Likely to Contain Volatile
Hydrocarbons
Continuos Boiler Blowdwon
Water Draw off from Crude Oil Tanks
Draining of LPG Vessels
Draining/Venting of Hot Pumps
Sample Points
Sample Points
Gas-Condensate blowdown
Blowdown Drum
Blowdown Drum
Quench Drum
Typical Single Compartment Sealed Manhole
Typical Double compartment Sealed Manhole

OISD-109

PROCESS DESIGN AND OPERATING PHILOSOPHIES

ON
BLOWDOWN AND SEWER SYSTEM
1.0 INTRODUCTION
3.1.1 Aqueous Blowdown:
Blowdown as defined in this document is a liquid
stream containing water, oil, chemicals or a
combination of two or more of these which are required
to be drained from various process equipment in the
hydrocarbon industry under different operating
situations like start up, shutdown, normal operation or
emergencies. Since majority of these streams are
usually waste products (however in some situations
these may be recoverable), their handling and disposal
often gets a low profile in the plant design and
operation. However, the importance of handling these
blowdown streams in enhancing the safety of the plant
cannot be underestimated. The purpose of this
document is to recognise the various blowdown stream
s commonly encountered in the oil and gas industry
and give guidelines for the safe handling and disposal
of some typical streams.

Water draw-off from reflux drums

Water-caustic (or other solvents) draw-off from
treating units
Brine water draw-off from desalters and heater
treaters.
Water draw-off from oil separators.
Stripped water draw-off from sour water strippers
Water draw-off from crude oil tanks and other
products tanks.
Boiler blowdown

3.1.2 Hydrocarbon Blowdown

2.0 SCOPE
This document covers the guidelines on design
and operating philosophies for safe handling and
disposal of liquid blowdown and drains from various
process equipment in the petroleum and natural gas
processing and storage facilities. Pressure relief of
vapour/liquid and their disposal is not covered in this
document for which OISD - 106 Standard on Pressure
Relief and Disposal should be referred to.

3.0 CLASSIFICATION
STREAMS

These streams contain water as the major

constituent with small amounts of hydrocarbons. Such
streams are usually encountered during the normal
running of the units. These streams may be continuous
or intermittent in nature. Some typical examples are:

OF

BLOWDOWN

These streams contain mainly the hydrocarbon

fractions and may be encountered during normal
operation, start-up, normal shutdown and emergency
shutdown. These streams are usually intermittent in
nature. Some typical examples are:

Before dealing with the design and operating

practices for handling and disposal of blowdown, it is
necessary to recognise the various blowdown streams
generally handled in the petroleum industry. Based on
the nature, frequency and other characteristics, these
streams can be classified as below:
3.1 CLASSIFICATION BASED ON COMPOSITION
Depending on the composition of blowdown
streams these may be classified as:

Intermittent draining of process equipment during

normal operation.
Drains and vents/bleeders on pumps, pipelines,
and manifolds
Sampling of products from equipment and piping
Emptying of an equipment during planned
shutdown
Emergency draining of a process equipment like
furnace, tower or vessel etc.,
Coker plant blowdown

3.1.3. Chemical Blowdown

These streams contain aqueous solutions of
chemicals and may have small quantities of
hydrocarbons. Such streams may be continuous or
intermittent in nature. Some typical examples are :

OISD-109

Caustic drains from treating plants

Reactor washes
Effluents from water treatment plants
Water draw-off from sour water strippers which
may contain sulphides, H2S, phenols, etc.,
Cooling Water blowdowns

3.2 CLASSIFICATION BASED ON TEMPERATURE

Blowdown streams as classified above may
further be grouped depending on the temperature.
These streams may be hot at ambient temperature or
be under cryogenic conditions. The hazards involved
in handling them and the technique of handling and
disposal of each one of such streams may be different.
Some typical examples of such streams are:
3.2.1 Hot Blowdown

Furnace blowdown
Coker plant blowdown
Fractionating tower blowdown
Hot heat exchanger/reboiler blowdown
Samples of hot products
Vents/drains from hot equipment
Boiler blowdown-continuous and intermittent

3.2.2 Cryogenic Blowdown

Drains, vents, and bleeders on equipment

operating at sub-zero temperatures like cold
boxes, refrige-ration systems, etc.,
Drains, vents bleeders on flashing liquids.
Drains, vents and bleeders on high pressure gas
transmission lines.

3.3 CLASSIFICATION
AND VISCOSITY

BASED

ON

VOLATILITY

Based on relative volatility, the blowdown streams

may be classified as volatile or non-volatile. Similarly
the may be viscous and congealing type or the free
flowing type blowdown streams.
Some typical
examples are:
3.3.1 Volatile

Gas condensates
LPG
Gasoline and lighter napthas
Hot-heavy hydrocarbons above their flash points.

3.3.2 Non-Volatile

Kerosenes and heavier hydrocarbons below their

flash points.

3.3.3 Viscous/Congealing

Crude Oil
Reduced Crude Oil
Fuel Oil
Bitumen
Wax

4.0 SAFE HANDLING

The facilities and procedures of safe handling of
various blowdown streams will vary with the type and
general grouping of these streams as listed earlier.
Depending upon the type of blowdown, some typical
handling facilities are recommended as under:
4.1 AQUEOUS BLOWDOWN
Generally these blowdown streams consist of
water with small amounts of hydrocarbons. Depending
upon whether these streams are continuos or
intermittent and the nature of hydrocarbons associated
with them, the handling arrangements will vary as
described in some typical examples below:
4.1.1 Aqueous Blowdown - Continuos in Nature:
All aqueous blowdown streams from pressure
vessels and which are continuous in nature, shall be
provided with an automatic level indicator cum
controller. In addition, high and low level alarms shall
be provided in the concerned control room. Further,
since majority of such services will be subject to
corrosive and or dirty environment due to presence of
large quantities of water, the level control valve should
be provided with properly sized block and bypass
valves for easy maintenance of the control valve. A
typical scheme for handling such streams is depicted in
Fig.1a. If the turned down ration of liquid blowdown is
very wide as is the case vary often in oily-water is very
wide as is he case very often in oily-water separators in
oil fields, a multiple control valve assembly may be
provided to take care of wide arrange of flow rates.
However, if the continuous aqueous blowdown is form
a vessel operating at atmospheric pressure, automatic
level indicator-cum-controller may not be necessary.
Instead a U-seal with a siphon breaker can be

provided. Water draining from Barometric condenser

drums and water seal vessels in flare headers are
some typical examples of this arrangement. Refer
Fig.1b for typical arrangement of such a scheme.
All such blowdown streams consisting of mainly
water from vessels which contain non-volatile hydrocarbons (which would not flash at ambient temperature
can be disposed off to sewer. However, if blowdown
stream consists of water from vessels, which contain
volatile liquids like naphthas and lighter fractions, the
same should be handled as discussed under 4.1.2
below.
4.1.2 Aqueous Blowdown likely to contain volatile
Hydrocarbons.
In situations like light ends reflux drums,
desalters, etc. where water is being withdrawn
continuously from vessels containing lighter hydrocarbons, there is a possibility of dissolved hydrocarbons going to sewer. Further, a large quantity of
lighter hydrocarbons can go to sewer in case the level
control fails. This will create hazardous conditions.
Under these situations, the water draw-off should be
received in vapour disengaging drum. The vapours
released form the top of this drum are lead to the close
flare header and the free water from the bottom of the
drum disposed to the sewer under an overflow pipe.
The disengaging drum should be provide with high and
low level alarms.
A typical scheme for handling such streams is
depicted in Fig.2. If there are more than one such
sources of blowdown, a common disengaging drum
can be considered. The overhead line from the
disengaging drum should be properly sized after
estimating the maximum amount of vapours released at
the ambient conditions in the disengaging drum.
4.1.3 Boiler Blowdown - Continuous
Continuous blowdown from a boiler/waste heat
steam generator is usually at high temperature and
pressure. Such streams should be handled carefully to
avoid personnel hazards. A typical scheme of handling
continuous boiler blowdown is depicted in Fig.3. If the
boiler or stream generator operates at high pressure,
the continuos blowdown streams are generally flashed
into lower pressure steam system or heat exchanged
for energy recovery before being disposed off safely.
A stream of water is sprayed to the hot effluent water to

OISD-109

cool it before discharging into oily sewer or storm water

drain.
4.1.4 Water Draw-off from Crude Oil Tanks
This is an important routine operation intermittent
in nature and can lead to lot of problems if not done
properly. Though it is satisfactory to drain free water
from the crude oil tanks into oily water sewer leading to
waste treatment plant, draining of emulsion and wax.
etc. into the oily sewer can lead to unsafe conditions in
addition to increasing the load on the waste water
treatment plant. it is recommended that the emulsion
etc. from the crude tanks be received in a slop tank
located into he crude tank farm area. The capacity of
the slop tank should be adequate to handle the wax
and BS & W likely to be present in a single largest
crude tank. The slop tank should be provided with
steam coils or alternative heating facilities to help break
the emulsion. A typical scheme for handling such
streams I depicted in Fig. 4 More than one crude tank
can be served with a single slop tank located inside the
crude tank(s) dyke area. However, if there are may
large size crude oil tanks, more than one slop tank may
be required to reduce piping and related problems
After draining the free water from the crude tanks
to oily water sewer, if oil water emulsion is observed,
the draining should be lined up to the slop tank where
the contents should be heated to the desired
temperature to break the emulsion and allowed to settle
for separating oil water phases. The water phase from
the slop tank should be drained to oily water sewer and
the oil content should be pumped back to the crude
tanks by two slop oil pumps (1 operating + 1 standby)
located outside the tank dyke. The slop tanks(s) should
be provided with tempe-rature gauge at different
elevations of the tank, a temperature. A level indicator
and a high level alarm should be provided at the slop
tank as shown in Fig.4. These indications and alarms
should be taken to the control room or the local
instrument panel as the case may be.
It is essential that draining operations from the
main crude tanks and the slop tank should be properly
supervised by the operator to avoid large quantities of
crude getting carried over into the sewer.
4.1.5 Other Aqueous Blowdown - Intermittent in
Nature
Such blowdown streams are not continuous, but
required to be handled during frequent draining or

OISD-109

venting operations while the plant or facility is under

normal operation.
Typical examples of such systems are - water
draining from storage vessels, product tanks and other
process equipment etc. Usually, these streams consist
of water, but may carry some traces of hydrocarbons.
However, if not handled properly, large quantities of
hydrocarbons can be drained alongwith water which
can pose serious hazards.
It is not necessary to provide automatic draining
system in such situations. The blowdown, drain or vent
lines should be provided with manually operated block
valve(s) preferably double valves to enhance the
integrity of isolation. It is essential that intermittent
draining of water from process equipment and storage
vessels be always attended and no draining or venting
should be allowed to continue without an operator
attending to it. A typical arrangement of draining water
from LPG storage vessels is depicted in Fig.5.
4.2 HYDROCARBON BLOWDOWN STREAMS
These blowdown streams contain mainly hydrocarbons. Most of these streams are intermittent in
nature and are required to be handled during frequent
draining or venting operations while the plant or facility
is under operation. Such streams are also required to
be handled during a planned or emergency shutdown
or start up of the plant/facilities. It is essential that such
operations be always attended and no draining or
venting should be allowed to continue without operator
attending to it. The blowdown drain or vent lines should
be provided with double valves to enhance the integrity
of isolation.
4.2.1 Draining/Venting from Hot Pumps:
During start up of operation, it is required to drain
or vent/bleed hydrocarbon pumps occasionally.. If not
handled properly, venting and draining of pumps
handling hot products can lead to hazardous conditions
due to autoignition. This risk is higher especially for hot
and heavy products like fuel oil etc. whose auto-ignition
temperatures are usually lower (250 Deg - 300 Deg. C
range). Autoignition temperatures of products generally
reduce as the molecular weight of the product
increases.
Vent and drains of each hot pump should be
provided with small sample cooler (located adjacent to
pup at operating elevation) so that the product is cooled

before being released to sewer. Whenever venting or

draining of such pumps is undertake, the cooler is lined
up and water flow through cooler established before
opening the pump drain or vent line. Depending upon
the location, a common cooler can be provided for
more than one pump. A typical scheme for handling
such streams is depicted in Fig.6 a low pressure (l.P)
steam connection is provided to the sample cooler to
heat the content of the cooler to a temperature
commensurate with the pour point of the product. This
will ensure that the product coil does not congeal while
handling high pour point - waxy products.
4.2.2 Draining and venting
Product Pumps:

from LPG/Cryogenic

Draining and venting of pumps handling LPG and

other cryogenic products should also be done very
carefully. The products coming out of these pumps
would flash immediately giving large quantities of
vapours and also create low temperature in the vent
and drain piping.
Such pumps should be drained/vented to flare or
to a closed vent header if there is no flare in the facility.
Additionally drain connection to oily sewer with valve
and cap should be provided to facilitate draining of
water or heavy ends. A typical scheme for handling
such streams is depicted in Fig.7. Double valves should
be provided on the vent and drain header lines as
shown in the sketch - one isolating valve and the other
globe/needle valve for control.
While handling
cryogenic liquids, the temperature in the vent/drain
lines may drop down due to flashing of liquid form
higher pressure to lower pressure. This phenomena
should be considered while selecting the materials for
such piping.
4.2.3 Draining of Equipment for Shutdown:
Various equipment are required to be drained free
of hydrocarbons and other hazardous materials during
shutdown for maintenance or inspection.
For
infrequently used connections normally associated with
equipment maintenance, the drain lines should be
provided with block valves and the connection should
be either plugged capped, or blinded for integrity of
isolation. Drain lines carrying such streams from
process equipment having large inventories should be
piped to the unit blowdown drum(s) or a pump out
header for the safety and recovery of the hydrocarbon

product. Fig.10 depicts a typical arrangement of a unit

blowdown drum.
4.2.4 Sample Points:
Small quantities of hydrocarbons are drained
while taking samples of various products which pose
hazards if not handles carefully. It is recommended to
locate all the sample points at one convenient location
in the unit and lay a collection tray below the sample
points.
Sampling lines should be small in size
preferably and as short as possible to minimise the
amount getting drained while taking the representative
samples. Each sampling line should be provided with
tow valves, one isolating valve and the other regulating
valve. Hot products should be provided with suitable
sample coolers. Hydrocarbons drained and collected in
the tray should lead to a drum, from where the material
should be disposed off to a safe location manually.
Alternatively, the tray should be piped to the blowdown
drum if the same exists. See Fig.8 for a typical sample
points installation.
4.2.5 Gas-Condensate Blowdown:
When the blowdown stream consists of
condensate drawn-off from gas-liquids separators
inter/after condensers/coolers or compressors etc. the
blowdown line should be provided with automatic
shutdown valve actuated on low level in the separator
to avoid gas blow-by in the downstream liquid system
which usually operates at lower pressure. A typical
scheme for handling such streams is depicted in Fig.9

OISD-109

released liquid flashes often resulting in a large fireball.

The fireball can cause vary widespread damage due to
flame contact. Although the fire ball lasts only a few
seconds, its effects can be devastate. Pressure vessels
containing LPG or other such liquids located in the
process areas have higher risks to BLEVE as
compared to storage vessels in the offsite area.
In a fire situation, therefore, it is desirable to
empty out the liquid inventory of the process vessels
containing LPG etc. to a safer location. Such vessels
therefore should be connected to a blowdown drum
thorough adequately sized blowdown line so that the
liquid content of the vessels can be drained into the
blowdown drum in the shortest possible time (say 5-10
minutes). The blowdown line from the vessel should be
provided with a tight shut off shutdown valve remotely
operated from the control room. Similar blowdown for
large size offsite storage vessels is usually not
practicable. However, facilities for transferring inventory
of LPG etc. from one storage vessels to other should
be considered. The blowdown drum mentioned above
can usually be the common light oil blowdown drum
located at one corner of the unit and connected to the
flare header. The stock from the blowdown drum can
be pumped for reprocessing or recycle etc. The
capacity of the drum should be adequate to receive the
total contents of a single process vessel containing
LPG or similar materials. This drum should not be
combined with hot blowdown drum which received
heavy and fouling type products. A typical arrangement
of such a blowdown drum is depicted in Fig.11. Refer
OISD-106, Standard on Pressure Relief and Disposal
System for more details on blowdown drums.

4.3 EMERGENCY BLOWDOWN

In certain emergency situation, it may be required
to drain or dump the contents of a process vessel or
equipment to a safer location. Such blowdown streams
should be handled automatically and preferably from a
remote location. Some typical examples are:
4.3.1 Blowdown from LPG and other cryogenic
vessels:
During a fire emergency, vessels containing LPG
and other such products pose additional hazards
because of BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour
Explosion) effect. The fire increases the internal
pressure and weakens the vessel until the vessel can
no longer contain the pressure. The vessel the ruptures
violently, with its parts propelled to great distances. The

4.3.2 Furnace Blowdown:

Some furnaces are provided with emergency
drum system to drain out the hydrocarbon contents of
the heating coils. Such blowdown streams should be
piped into a header terminating into a quench drum
where the hot blowdown is cooled to a safe
temperature and disposed off suitably. Fig.12 depicts a
typical arrangement of a quench drum. Refer OISD106, Standard on Pressure Relief and Disposal
System for more details of quench drums.

OISD-109

4.4 CHEMICAL BLOWDOWN

5.2 SEWER DRAIN SYSTEM

Like aqueous blowdown streams, chemical

blowdown streams and drains may be continuous or
intermittent. These should be handles with care to
avoid accidents. The design and operating philosophies for handling continuous and intermittent aqueous
blowdown streams also. As discussed earlier under
Aqueous Blowdown, the continuous chemical
blowdown streams should be controlled automatically
under level of the vessel, and where there is a
possibility of hydrocarbon phase coming out with the
chemical, disengaging drums should be considered.
The integrity of isolation of inter-mittent blowdown
streams by double valves, blinds or caps should be
ensured. Refer section 5.3.3 for disposal of chemical
blowdown streams.

Gravity sewer drains are extensively used in the

petroleum industry for the disposal of various waste
and blowdown streams containing oily, chemical and
other wastes etc. Generally such items of plant or
facility get low profile, but the importance of their good
design and operating practices cannot be underestimated from the safety and loss prevention point of
view. Important guidelines for the design and operation
sewer system are given below:
5.3 TYPE OF SEWERS
Depending upon the nature of waste streams, the
sewers should be segregated as below:5.3.1 Oily Water Sewers:

5.0 DISPOSAL OF BLOWDOWN

The various blowdown stream handled above
should be disposed off safely to their respective
destinations. Selection of disposal system will depend
on the type of blowdown stream. Disposal system may
be closed pressure system or gravity sewers.

The following aqueous streams generally have

some oil content carried by them. These streams
should be routed to oily water sewer system:

Oily water form process unit - Reflux drums,

separators, disengaging drums, etc.

Gland and seal cooling/quenching water from

pumps/compressors etc.

Brine water/sour water.

Process wash water.

Oily water from hot wells.

Floor and paving drains in oily drums

Oil + water overflow from quench drums.

Once through water from barometric condensers

Hydrocarbon tanks drains

Sample point drains.

Oily system Condensate if no condensate

recovery and treatment facilities exist.

Process cooling tower blowdown. Captive power

plant cooling tower blowdown streams are not
likely to contain oil and therefore, may be routed
to storm sewer.

5.1 CLOSED PRESSURED SYSTEM

All hydrocarbon blowdown streams free of water
and chemicals etc. which re drained from various
vessels and equipment are generally received in a
closed blowdown drum at one corner of the unit. The
blowdown streams are pumped out from this closed
blowdown drum by means of pump(s0 and routed to
feed tanks, slop tanks or downgraded to other
products, as the case may be, by suitably designed
closed piping system. These streams should not be
put into sewers from safety and loss considerations. A
typical scheme of such system is depicted in Fig. 10.
The blowdown drum can be a common drum for
more than one unit and located underground at a
convenient location and vent to atmosphere so that the
different vessels and equipment can be drained to the
drum under gravity head through closed piping system.
The vent line from the drum should be provided with
snuffing stream. The pumpout pump is usually a
vertical submersible pump capable of starting and
stopping automatically on high and low liquid levels in
the drum.

5.3.2 Storm Water Sewers:

Waste water which has no oil and other
objectionable material can be handled by storm water
system. This system includes closed conduits and open

OISD-109

ditches. Following streams should be routed to storm

water sewer system.
------

Rainfall from clean areas

Boiler blowdown
Steam condensate
Tank Diked area drains (alternate routing as the
same should also be routed to oily water system)
Treated water effluent from DM water plants if PH
and COD are Okay.

5.3.3 Chemical Sewers:

Sewers carrying drains/effluent wastes containing
chemicals should be segregated form other sewers
since these streams often require different treatment
than oily water streams before final disposal. Such
streams are also generally corrosive and may required
special materials of construction for the sewers. Since
the nature of treatment may be different for different t
chemicals, it is necessary that the quantities, type and
compositions of all such streams likely to be handled in
the process areas, chemical storage, handling and
dilution etc. should be thoroughly studied to decide
their segregation and treatment.
If chemical waste affect only oxygen demand and
solid content of the effluent, these can be discharged to
the oily water system downstream of primary oil
separation but upstream of biological treatment.
However, when pH, odor, taste, color, trubidity etc. are
affected, appropriate special treatment should be
considered at suitable stage before biological
treatment. Since each chemical may require a specific
treatment, it is difficult to generalise the treatment
facilities here. Detailed guidelines for effluent treatment
facilities are therefore not included in the scope of this
document.

5.4 BASIC DESIGN

WATER SEWERS

GUIDELINES FOR OILY-

5.4.1 Layout of Oily Sewers:

i)

REQUIREMENT OF SEALED MANHOLES:

The layout of most oily water sewers consists of a

trunk sewer with branch connected to process units,
diked areas and other work areas. The main trunk
sewer should be isolated from branch sewers by sealed
manholes so that the vapours cannot back up into
processing areas. Seals play a vital role in maintaining
safe operation of a sewer system. Sealed manholes
shall be provided on oily sewers at the following
locations:
(a)

Process Units

On unit oily sewer at unit battery limit so that unit

area is cut of from any fire in offsite areas or vice
versa.

Within process units, sealed manholes shall be

provided in such locations so that each sub-unit
within the unit is isolated from other areas. Where
such demarcation is difficult, one sealed manhole
for every 30m length of unit sewer shall be
provided.

At change of direction of sewer line.

At entry of branch line to manhole.

b)

Offsite Areas

At connection manholes of branch sewers to main

sewers to isolate each facility contributing oily
waste from the risk of fire. Such connections may
be from tank farms, offsite pump stations, oil
loading/unloading areas, railway gantry areas,
compressor house, etc. etc.

On main sewer lines at suitable points so as to

provide dire barriers for segregation of vital
hazardous installations from each other. In
general sealed manholes on main sewer lines
shall be provided at intervals of not more than 300
meters.

5.3.4 Sanitary Water Sewers:

Sanitary water sewers should collect wasted from
toilet facilities and convey these to a treatment system
in the complex, municipal sewer system or to a septic
tank depending upon the local condition. The treated
sanitary effluent may be discharged to the treated oily
water system, to the storm water system or
independently to the desired disposal point.

OISD-109

ii)

TYPE OF SEALED MANHOLES

The following fire sealed manholes should be

provided:
(a)

Single compartment sealed manholes with bent

pipes seal type shall be used for CS pipes upto
diameter 16.

(b)

Double compartment type sealed manholes shall

be provided for CS pipes greater than 16 dia and
for all sizes of RCC pipes.

(c)

A minimum of 150 mm fire seal shall be provided

for both single and double compartment type
manholes.

Fig. 13 & 14 depict typical sealed type manholes

Single compartment and double compartment type.
Sewers, in general, are designed for gravity flow.
In a tightly sealed system, a rise in water level would
reduce the vapour space causing obstruction to flow.
Vents should therefore be installed on the manhole to
maintain atmospheric pressure in the sewer and to
release vapours to safe locations. Care should be
taken to avoid vents near furnaces etc. In critical
locations, the vent pipes should be provided with steam
snuffing connections.
5.4.2 Capacity
The branch sewers from processing areas should
be designed for the greater of the following two
situations

Rainfall plus process waste water with the sewer

flowing at 2/3 of full depth.

Process waste water plus expected fire water run

off with sewers running full.

should be increased to 1m/sec. The maximum velocity

should be limited to 2.4 m/sec. The slope of sewers
should be decided based on the sewer size.
5.4.3 Material of Construction
Cast iron and hume pipe are usually the best
materials for gravity drains. If salt water is likely to be
used in the plant, it is advisable to use pipes which are
coated with cement from inside.
5.5 SPECIAL SEWERS
Because of special nature of some effluent
stream-high pour point, wax content, viscosity and
other fouling characteristics as is the case with
asphalts, waxy lube/intermediates and other similar
products, their drains should not be routed to oily water
sewers directly as there is danger of the entire sewer
system getting choked. Such product drains should be
handled separately. Some specific cases are
mentioned below:
5.5.1 Asphalt Drains
All equipment and areas where effluent streams
containing asphaltic material is likely to be handled
should be segregated from other areas and bunded by
a 4-6 high concrete wall having a baffle at one end. A
small water stream should always be kept flowing in the
bund. The water should overflow into a catchpit having
two compartments from where the water should
overflow into the oily water sewer. Asphaltic material
which gets trapped in the catchpit should be
occasionally scrapped off manually by isolating one
compartment. Provision should also be made for
steaming the catchpit in case required.
5.5.2 Waxy Drains

The design capacity of the trunk sewer should depend

on the cumulative amount of spend cooling water and
condensate from various processing areas and the
storm drainage from the paved areas and the largest
tank dyke area. Trunk sewers generally drain large
water sheds, therefore, fire water flows are not
governing for their sizing. However, this should be
checked back.

All equipment and areas where effluent streams

containing waxy materials are likely to be handled
should be likewise segregated from other areas and
bunded by 4-6 high concrete wall having a baffle at
one end. The water should overflow from the baffle
into the oily water sewer. The wax will get deposited
within the bund from where it should be scrapped off
occasionally.

A minimum velocity (at half full or running full) of

0.6 m/sec should be maintained in the branch and trunk
sewers to avoid settling of solids. If the water consists
of large quantities of sediments, the minimum velocity

5.5.3 Drains at Remote Locations

Sometimes because of small capacity of an
installation and or its remote location, it may not be

feasible to have elaborate oily water sewer system and

treatment facilities. Under such situations, local sumps
should be provided for collection of oily water effluents
from such an installation. Oil sumps should be
designed as miniature oil separators with outlet baffles
to retain oil. Suitable skimming arrangement should be
provided to withdraw oil to a storage pit, from where it
can be pumped out to slop, tank or barrels etc. Oil
sumps however are not very efficient for compete
removal of oil from waste.
Alternatively, a Tilted plate type of oil-water
separator can be specified. Oil removal in such
separators is very good and the treated wasted water
almost oil free. If waxy or fouling type of products are
envisaged in the waste water, a grid screen or a filter
should be used upstream of these separators.

OISD-109

6.0 REFERENCES:
1.

Design guide to Refinery Sewers, J.D. Brown and

G.T. Shannon An API Survey.

2.

API-521, 1982 Guide for Pressure Relieving and

Depressurising Systems.

3.

Safety Digest of Lessons Learned, Section 3, API

Publication, 758, 1980.

4.

Design for Process Safety,

Processing, December, 1985.

5.

OISD Standard 106 on Pressure Relief and

Disposal System.

Hydrocarbon

25

OISD-109

FIG. 1a
AQUEOUS BLOWDOWN CONTINUOUS IN NATURE

Note: TI point shown in the drawing below should be located on the downstream of control valve. Note 1

Fig.1b
Aqueous blowdown Continuous in Nature

26
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FIG. 2
AQUEOUS BLOWDOWN LIKELY TO CONTAIN VOLATILE HYDROCARBONS

OISD-109

27

OISD-109

28

FIG. 3
CONTINUOUS BOILER BLOWDOWN

FIG. 4
WATER DRAW OFF FROM CRUDE TANKS

OISD-109

29

FIG. 5
DRAINING OF LPG VESSELS

30
OISD-109

31

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FIG. 6
DRAINING/VENTING OF HOT PUMPS

FIG. 7
DRAINING / VENTING OF COLD PUMPS

32
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FIG. 8
SAMPLE POINTS

OISD-109

33

34

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FIG. 10
BLOWDOWN DRUM

OISD-109

35

36

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37

OISD-109

25

26

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27

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NOTES

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28

NOTES

29

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NOTES

OISD-109

30

NOTES