Conventional and microwave drying of hydrocarbon cutting sludge

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 degrees C and 180 degrees 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 chi(2), e(s), and r criteria. (c) 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13104, 201