Abstract: At present,oily sludge has large output and high environmental harm,and it is in urgent need of high efficiency and low energy consumption disposal technology.Taking oily sludge as the object,this study conducted experiments on a smouldering small test unit to explore the effects of different calorific value of materials and Darcy air flow rate on smouldering self-maintenance,and analyzed smouldering products and disposal effects.Pilot tests were carried out on a 100kg smouldering unit,and economic analysis was conducted.The results show that when the calorific value is 2 794~5 589kJ/kg and the Darcy air flow rate is 2.11cm/s,and the calorific value is 5 589kJ/kg and the Darcy air flow rate is 1.87~2.49cm/s,the smolder can be stable,and the removal rate of petroleum hydrocarbons can reach more than 98%.The non-condensing gas in the tail gas is mainly methane,n-hexane and other normal alkane,and the carbon number of the condensate is C₁₁~C₂₀,which accounts for 46.38%.When the calorific value of oily sludge is 3 912kJ/kg and the Darcy air flow rate is 2.11cm/s,it can stably smold,the removal rate of petroleum hydrocarbon is 99.54%,and the comprehensive disposal cost of pilot test is about 414yuan/m³,which is more economical than oxidation,incineration,supercritical extraction and other methods.The research results can provide theoretical reference for the practical application of smoldering technology in oily sludge disposal.