European Union legislation in prevention and environmental protection regulates a wide range of industrial and agricultural activities. In the Czech Republic, the legal obligation to apply Best Available Techniques (BAT) in industrial manufacturing and operations also applies to chemical companies.
Unipetrol sees the application of BAT at its production plants as a priority. The group put the renovated wastewater treatment plant in Kralupy nad Vltavou into operation under a plan drafted in cooperation with the Regional Authority for the Central Bohemian Region and the Vltava Water Board. Construction work began in 2013 and was completed in 2015. “This was followed by a two-year period of testing functionality. We received facility approval last December and switched to live operation at the start of this year,” said Director of the ECO unit at Unipetrol RPA Pavel Sláma. “Environmental protection to us is more than just meeting the requirements of the legal standards. Costs to the Group in this field are around one billion crowns per year,” he added.
All water from the refinery site passes through the wastewater treatment plant. This means not only water used during manufacturing processes, but water falling on areas with manufacturing equipment and warehouses as rain or snow. Subsurface water from the area around the refinery also passes through the purification process as a part of hydrological protection of ground water. “We purify 2000 m3 of water every day, which to give you an idea is three times the amount of water held by the twenty-five-metre indoor swimming pool in nearby Kralupy,” said Head of Refinery Operations in Kralupy nad Vltavou Michal Skácel, giving us an idea of the volume of water which is treated. “Per capita, we could provide wastewater treatment for up to 40,000 people, so we’re comparable in size to the city wastewater treatment plant in Kralupy.”
The wastewater treatment plant also has a new biological final clarification reservoir. This soon became a sought-after sanctuary for frogs, ducks and swans. “We’ve also released several fish into the reservoir, these specifically being crucian carp. We don’t, however, intend to engage in fishpond management. Our main aim is to ensure that all water passing through the site leaves with an appropriate level of purity,” said Michal Skácel with a smile.
The main contaminants technicians remove from water at the wastewater treatment plant are hydrocarbons, nitrogenous substances and suspended solids. Operation of the wastewater treatment plant is largely controlled by an automated system and monitored twenty-four hours a day with state-of-the-art monitoring equipment in the main control centre at the refinery in Kralupy. “We meet all the requirements for emission limits. We have also invested in roofing for the treatment tanks and liquidation of waste gases at the biofilter to eliminate any odours that may be released,” said Michal Skácel in conclusion.
The refinery and petrochemical group Unipetrol is the only crude oil processor in the Czech Republic, and is an important producer of fuels, plastics and fertilisers and owner of the Benzina network of petrol stations with over 402 stations, which is the largest network in the Czech Republic. Crude oil is delivered to the Czech Republic from the Russian Druzhba pipeline. Crude oil flows in from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Arabic and African countries via the IKL pipeline (Ingolstadt – Kralupy nad Vltavou – Litvínov), which is connected to the TAL pipeline from the Italian city of Trieste. Crude oil delivered to the Czech Republic is processed by two Unipetrol Group refineries – Kralupy nad Vltavou and Litvínov - Záluží, where a related production plant for petrochemical products is also located. The total volume of crude oil supplies to the Czech Republic is eight million tonnes per year, of which roughly a third is processed at the refinery in Kralupy nad Vltavou.