Process for cleaning the interiors of vessels

摘要

An environmentally acceptable method for cleaning the interior of vessels comprises contacting the interior of a vessel with a solvent for the contaminant contained therein to produce a contaminated solvent, collecting the contaminated solvent from the vessel, separating essentially all of the contaminant from the contaminated solvent to recover essentially all of the solvent essentially free of the contaminant and produce a contaminant composition which is incineratable or can be made incineratable by blending with a combustible composition, such as fuel oil. The contaminant may be separated from the contaminated solvent by distillation; in which case the overhead product may be washed with sulfuric acid and then neutralized with a base.