(Nomination for 2012 AUREA Award): Delta Kladovo - Waste oil recycling system

Kladovo-based Delta opened in September 2011 the first ship waste oil treatment plant in Serbia, in which EUR 2 million were invested. None of the ports or docks on the Danube in our country, from Bezdan to Prahovo, has a terminal to collect waste from vessels and ships, the number of which amounts to about 11,000 a year (according to the data provided by the ship lock of Djerdap hydroelectric power plant).

By investing in the construction of a terminal for ship waste, Delta has included brand new services in Serbia in its offer for shipping companies, while reducing the pollution of the Danube at the same time.

The company Delta owns a storage for oil derivatives and a dock for ships at the 937th kilometer of the Danube. That was also a motive for that company to make it possible for ships to fill the tank with fuel and dispose of waste at the same place, which represents a unique concept.

Thanks to aforementioned waste treatment plant, domestic and foreign ships can now dispose of their waste at a place registered and designated for that instead of releasing it into the Danube, for which they are issued appropriate documents to present to competent authorities.

Delta has built a system for collecting ship waste as well as a plant for recycling waste oil, oily water, oily cloths and filters, fecal water and municipal waste.

There are two types of by-products of the recycling process: raw materials (up to 1,000 tonnes a month) and intermediate goods (up to 1,000 tonnes a year). The entire production is exported to the EU, that is, Bulgaria, and the company concluded annual agreements whose implementation started January 2012.

The fact that there is almost no way to remediate the effects of the river pollution with ship oil that creates an oxygen impermeable membrane on the water surface, thus causing the death of animals in the river, makes the commencement of production at Kladovo-based waste oil recycling plant even more important.

INNOVATION

The recycling center in Kladovo is the first of the kind in Serbia and unique in Europe because, for the first time, a filling station and a waste collection and recycling facility are situated in the same place. No other “bunker base“ on the old continent features a waste collection center and a waste recycling center in one place. That is why the Serbian investment is promoted as a pilot project in Europe. Technical and technological equipment in the recycling plant consists of automated and computerized machines, which represent the latest generation of recycling equipment that makes it possible to produce a new value, that is a product for the market, from a dangerous waste.

This equipment is unique in our region. Although the machines are imported, domestic expert Cedomir Curcic, a mechanical engineer, designed the entire plant and prepared the technological documentation, while the expert consultant for technical and technological issues of waste oil recycling and waste management was Predrag Jovanovic from the Multidisciplinary Research Institute.

The technological concept of waste treatment and lubricating oil production at Delta's recycling center in Kladovo comprises the following: used mineral oil recycling; filtration and concentration of ecotoxic materials from oily waters and emulsions; lubricant production; oil filter collection; oily cloth collection; ship waste collection; takeover and treatment of fecal and sanitary water from ships.

Used mineral oil recycling – It is a mechanical filtration of used oils through separation of all dirt by means of oil decantation, filtration, centrifugation and drying, with the aim of eliminating mechanical dirt, water and oxydation products, thus enabling its reuse as an intermediate good in the production of other products.

Filtration and concentration of ecotoxic materials from oily waters and emulsions – It is a procedure involving water evaporation in high vacuum at the temperature of about 30°C in an automatic device that reduces their volume by separating water. In addition to organic components, one of the products of this procedure is a high-quality distilled water.

Lubricant production – With the aim of taking advantage of the regeneration capacity of used oils as much as possible, the plant also produces lubricating oils. It is a procedure involving physical mixing and fine dispersion of components in the system, with the aim of generating a homogenous mixture of a certain composition and demanding physical and chemical characteristics.

SOCIAL UTILITY

By implementing this project, our social community has joined the group of the Danube countries that take care of the environment and put efforts into keeping the Danube river clean and unpolluted. The company Delta also maintains a close cooperation with the WANDA Project, which is focused on the coordination of waste management on the European level.

A big problem of all ships and vessels was the lack of possibility of disposing of ship waste (a mixture of waste oil, petroleum and water) and fecal waters that are, unfortunately, mainly released into the the Danube.

On the territory of Serbia, there was no place or company along 600 kilometers of the Danube with a capacity, plant or permit to render this type of services, without which ships will soon no longer be able to sail because they will have to present a written document proving that they've disposed of aforementioned waste at a place designated for that. Each ship on the Danube carries between 3,000 and 5,000 kilograms of a mixture of waste oil, fuel and water.

The fact that there is almost no way to remediate the effects of the river pollution with ship oil that creates an oxygen impermeable membrane on the water surface, thus causing the death of animals in the river, makes the commencement of production at Kladovo-based waste oil recycling plant even more important.

In addition to everything mentioned above, the application of contemporary technology will make it possible for recycled waste to get a new use value.

FINANCIAL POTENTIAL

Delta is engaged in wholesale trade in oil and fuel (oil derivatives) in domestic and foreign markets, primarily in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia. Since 2008, the company has been supplying fuel and lubricants to ships in international traffic, and it is the only company in Serbia to do that.

The company's extensive network and experience in the branch will help the products of recycling find their way to customers across Europe.

There are two types of by-products of the recycling process: raw materials (up to 1,000 tonnes a month) and intermediate goods (up to 1,000 tonnes a year).

The raw materials are similar to fuel, they are an additive similar to crude oil, but of higher quality, and are used in the production of bitumen, bitulit, tar paper, hydro-insulation materials, etc. The intermediate goods are used to produce base oil.

The price of ready-made products is dictated by the stock market, while the raw material is free.

The entire production is exported to the EU, that is, Bulgaria, and the company concluded annual agreements whose implementation started January 2012.

Financial potential is best seen in a big difference between the price of ready-made products of recycling and the price of raw materials, which are almost free.

Besides, an additional revenue is the state's subsidy in the amount of RSD 9 per kilogram of products made from waste.

Since Delta is also certified to transport dangerous waste, the company collects used oil from the whole territory of Serbia. They have formed a big network, so that waste comes from both small and large systems.

As people at Delta explain, 2,500 tonnes of oil are sold in Serbia every month, which implies that the monthly quantity of waste is similar in weight. If all waste oil was recycled, the profit would be extremely high.

If Delta's waste oil recycling system is your favorite for the innovative investment of the year, you can cast your vote on the official website of the 2012 Aurea Award.