The SAS MIST in Suriname

Guyana and Suriname, together with French Guyana, form a small section on the northern part of South America. Since 2008 ExxonMobil and some other oil companies have looked for and found substantial amounts of oil. The arrival of the oil industry in Guyana and Suriname has led to the requirement of new environmental regulations and a whole new environmental infrastructure.

The governments have taken a strong line in ensuring high environmental standards and SAS Environmental Services is working with a number of partners in the region. One of our MIST systems is already on its way to the region in order to support the waste treatment and reduction.

The latest member of the SAS MIST family will taking on both drilling slops and production waste using our SlopTreat and SludgeTreat chemistry. It was essential to provide a low energy solution capable of treating large volumes of waste with a very low energy requirement. This keeps power consumption down and minimises the need to store hazardous waste for long periods of time.

The oil industry has the potential to help these economies to grow and at the same time responsibly manage any waste by minimising the waste creation and through fast and immediate treatment of oil waste.

To find out more about the MIST System and Process download our Product Data Sheet.

Model 2 : Disposal of Stabilized Oil Sludge

The Scenario

Let us imagine that we have 50 000 tonnes of liquid oil sludge in a storage somewhere and we must move this sludge about 600 km to the nearest disposal site that is willing to accept it. However, the disposal site will only accept it if it is a solid waste not as a liquid waste. There are several ways to proceed from here, but what is becoming increasingly relevant in today's world now is how much carbon footprint our treatment process incurs.

The Treatment Method

A method that is used to turn liquid sludge into a solid waste so that it is safer for disposal and accepted in more disposal sites is by stabilizing or fixing the waste. This is usually done by adding a stabilizing agent to the waste. The stabilizing agent obviously must be taken to the waste; it must be mixed at the site.  The stabilizing agent is usually a clay or perhaps sawdust, depending on the site location. This process increases the waste volume, but it does turn into a solid. Once solid, with no free liquid visible, the waste will have increased the total volume by a factor of three or four. This quantity then must be transported by truck to the disposal site, 600 km away, where it is safely and securely stored for eternity.

The SAS MIST Process

This is one way of doing it, but obviously, we are increasing the waste volume by a factor of three or four. It seems contra intuitive to create more waste just to treat the waste. Alternatively, what we can do is add a little bit of our SAS chemistry and put it through our SAS MIST process. What happens then is rather than adding stabilizers to the waste to turn it into a solid material, we actually remove the water and the oil, leaving only dry solids. The oil is recovered, and the water will be reused. We are left only with the dry solids that we then transport to the disposal site.

 The Advantage

That is a huge saving, rather than increasing the waste volume by 300% or 400 %. we are actually reducing the volume of the waste by about 90 % here, so the carbon footprint is going to be substantially smaller. In the case of this particular example, you're looking at over 20 000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions for stabilizing the waste and transporting it or you're looking at about 1400 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions for the SAS MIST process and only transporting a much smaller fraction of the waste. The impact on the carbon footprint by actually treating at the site of storage or generation is absolutely massive.

Your Benefit

How will this help you? By decreasing treatment costs, reducing long-term exposure, making your processes more efficient and staying ahead of your competition by being part of a progressive and sustainable route to Zero Carbon.

Download the Companion Factsheet to the video to find out more.

What challenges do businesses face in the transition to zero carbon?

Transition to zero carbon will be an important business priority over the next years. Governments are activity setting a target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which is expected to result in increasing legislation, as well as incentives, to ensure businesses play their part. 

Moving to a position of carbon neutrality is a significant undertaking, with many challenges facing businesses of all types. The desire to reduce carbon emissions is strong and continues to grow, as new generations enter the workforce and demand change. 

---

Overcoming cost barriers

With increasing environmental pressures often come associated higher costs. The perceived burden of measuring, classifying and putting a programme of continuous improvement of Green House gas  (GHG) is an additional pressure on a company’s resources.

Change is always approached with apprehension and suspicion. However, with CHANGE comes OPPORTUNITY.

---

At SAS ENVIRONMENTAL, we pride ourselves by providing innovative technical solutions to the treatment of wastes and recovery of valuable hydrocarbon resources. Our innovative technology is proven to recover typically 80% of oily volume and returning it to a useable form. This not only reduces residual waste volume and associated treatment and disposal costs; but provides the benefit of the value of the oil recovered.

SAS Environmental customers’ face the same challenges of reducing the discharge of oily waste by converting much of it to reusable resource.  In the months to come the requirement to measure and report material that contributes to the Carbon loading will become an increasing requirement and the incentive to Reduce, Reclaim, Recycle and Reuse will never have been more important.

---

We now see that the benefits extend from not only reclaiming valuable resource but the equally valuable reduction in GHG emissions associated with conventional treatment and disposal.

This is no better illustrated by the processing of Oily waste at the INEOS site at Grangemouth.

As legislators embrace the needs for reporting of, and reduction of Carbon rich, oily wastes; increased emphasis will be placed on recovery of these ‘wastes’ and turning them into usable, commercially valuable resource.

Saving the planet, one step at a time.

If you have any waste treatment projects you're working on in oil waste then get in touch with us on any one of the many channels that are available. We would love to talk to you and see if we can help you, help the planet.

Find out more about oil sludge treatment in our Case Study by clicking below.

SAS MIST - Waste Preparation Module

Where the Waste Module fits into the SAS MIST Process

I’m going to walk you through our MIST process waste preparation module. The MIST process uses our unique microemulsion chemistry to take oil sludge and oil slops waste and convert it into high quality oil water and dry solids that are safe for disposal. The whole MIST process basically runs as follows.:

The waste is in the tank, a pit or a lagoon. We remove it from the pit and we put it through the waste preparation module. We add the chemistry, we mix it, then we put the waste through the separation stage where we have a decanter – centrifuge, which removes the solids, the solids go to disposal, the centrate goes into a settling pond or tank and the oil and water simply face separate, the oil floats to the top, the water sinks to the bottom - that’s the MIST process.

What is the Waste Preparation Module

One question that kept appearing in my inbox was about the waste preparation module. What is that, why is that part of the system, how do I use it, and why are the people at SAS Environmental services so excited about this waste preparation module?

Basically it is a 20 foot container size frame. This waste preparation module adds a capability to our MIST process that was originally designed to treat liquid waste and adds the capability to treat waste with a much higher solids content or solid waste. Now you might have solid waste but it still has 20% hydrocarbons in it and you can’t put that waste through a decanter centrifuge. But with these two high-speed blending tanks what we can do is take that waste put it in one of these two tanks add our chemistry to it which helps break up the waste and helps to kind of liquefy it but then we can add oil to it or even water to it to create an oil sludge and that oil sludge is then processed through a separation stage leaving you with dry solids with virtually no oil on it no hydrocarbons on it and oil and water that you can recycle.

One solution, not three

So now, a typical waste pit is all over the place with regards to the nature of the waste. One part you may see liquid which is no doubt a lot of rain water that has come in and there’s probably some light hydrocarbons. There’s another part of the pit which is kind of black sludgy, which no doubt has oil and water in it but it’s pretty much solid already. Certainly the top layer and then closer to the front is much all the waste but it will still have 5% to 15% hydrocarbons on it.

Now you don’t really want to have three different systems to treat three different types of oil waste. We have one chemistry that will do it all but by adding this waste preparation module we can take this solid waste add oil to it or even water to it mix it in our waste preparation module and we can then still treat it through the decanter centrifuge we have at the separation stage giving you much drier solids free of hydrocarbons and the oil and water recovered. So this one module that we have, you can treat waste on one side, you can mix it, you can add a chemistry to it, you can add oil to it, you could add diesel to it, you could add another solvent to it, you can add water to it, you mix it, you get it ready, you get the solids content down to 15 to 20 % at most, and then while you do that the other tank where you have waste that’s already been prepped, that tank empties out into the decanter. That waste is being processed and once that tank has been processed you switch back to the other tank and so you have a continuous batch process and it allows your decanter to take on in your system, to take on a whole range of oil waste materials that it would normally not be able to treat and process.

So that’s why we think this is a brilliant system and why we think you should be excited about it too.

Find out more about the Waste Preparation Module from Mark Zwinderman in our Case Study Video.

Oil Waste Preparation - An Important Step in Treating your Liquid Waste

A Story of Ecuador Oil Waste…

Today, we want to share with you the importance of preparing your oil waste before applying your customized treatment. It is one of our key steps when designing a liquid waste solution. We’ll showcase its importance through one of our case studies. It concerns the delivery and commissioning of a SAS MIST 220 system for the treatment of oil sludge to a waste management company based in Ecuador.

From Solid to Liquid Waste…

This is a really fascinating project and this particular company had a number of waste issues that it wanted to address and opportunities that it wanted to capture. It involved both liquid waste from refinery operations, traditional sludge with a high oil content that could be recovered and solids which would be able to go to bioremediation at the site. At this site there was already a lot of bioremediation work being carried out of hydrocarbon contaminated land and soil. Some of that waste takes a very long time to bioremediate and that limits how much waste you can process through bioremediation. But if you can take waste that has relatively high hydrocarbons and put it through the system and using our chemistry and engineering to remove as much of the hydrocarbons as you can, then that opens up the capability of processing more waste on site and therefore growing your business.

The Importance of Blending…

In this case the system was designed both to take liquid waste, but it also had to take more solid waste. What we did in this case is we modified the waste before it actually went through the separation stage. Here we used two blending tanks that were built by a local design and engineering company. Those blending tanks allowed the customer to add oil or water to the solid waste to actually create a liquid waste. Then we put that liquid sludge through the SAS MIST system and using our chemistry, the result was very dry solids that can either go to a landfill or be further bioremediated. The liquid waste, the oil in the water would simply come out the other end and would be recovered.

Waste Evaluation Process…

The way we approached this case was to start off with a waste evaluation and process development stage where we really got to know the company that we worked with, the ways that they were looked to process and what their customer requirements were. Part of the process was to perform site surveys where we looked at what waste is on site, what is the layout, what is the nature of the waste. There was a lot of waste in this particular site and some of it had been there for a long time, going through bioremediation. We were really trying to do an assessment to see if some of this waste was quite liquid. We concluded that we could process it and other waste already far down the bioremediation route, for it there probably no point of putting it through the system.

In conclusion, it was just an evaluation of what there was on site and making sure that we knew exactly what we could do.Ultimately it came to the point where the system was about ready to be delivered and we worked with the team locally so that they were completely prepared for the arrival of our engineers and chemists and also of the MIST system itself. We got some excellent results with really dry solids, which we were expecting. And so, to get a really good meaningful outcome, it was a fantastic project to be involved in. If you have any questions contact us via email via telephone ,find us on Linkedin find us on Youtube ,leave a comment, ask a question and we will definitely, reply and get back to you as soon as we can and hopefully we'll have an opportunity to work with you as much as we enjoyed working with this particular project.

Thank you very much,

Mark Zwinderman |CEO

The guide to the SAS MIST - Step by Step

SAS MIST Process

Today I am going to walk you through the SAS Environmental Services MIST process. This is a process for the treatment of liquid oil waste such as mud slops, oil sludge, and refinery waste. Normally, this waste will be stored in a tank, in a pit, in a lagoon, or in a mud skip.

---

 Waste Preparation

The first thing we need to do is prepare this waste for effective and proper treatment and make sure we achieve the best results possible. We use a pump, because this is a liquid waste that we are dealing with to pump the waste from the storage. The slops or sludge is pumped into our Waste Preparation Module. This is a dual blend tank setup based within a 20-foot frame. What those to blend tanks allow us to do is ensure that the waste goes into the Separation Stage in the best possible condition for treatment.

The variability of oil waste is enormous and the more we can standardize what goes into the treatment phase, the more successful we will be in the outcomes. These dual blend tanks allow us to do a few things that are very beneficial in the treatment of oil waste.

 First of all, if the waste is very high in solids, the blending tanks will allow us to reduce the solids content in the waste by adding some amount of water, oil or another solvent. This allows us to create waste with an overall lower solids content. This helps to improve the effectiveness of the decanter centrifuge at the separation stage. Also, there are times when we have very viscous waste, and adding a solvent can actually help reduce the viscosity. That in its own right can help at the separation stage when we want to remove the solids from the waste.

Innovative chemistry

The other thing we can do at the blending tanks stage is to add the SAS SludgeTreat products. This the chemistry that makes SAS-ES such a unique company. What the chemistry will do is start to work on the oil and the solids and begin to create that separation effect. We can do this inline right before the separation stage, but doing it at the waste preparation module stage gives us the opportunity to blend a little bit longer is needed. For example when the waste is particularly difficult, when there are as many different chemicals present in the waste, or when we have a higher solid loading.

The other benefit is that sometimes by blending chemistry and oil sludge for a longer period of time, it can actually reduce chemical dose rate a little bit. So, this is a very good capability to have in front of the separation stage. What it allows us to do by using those two blending tanks is that one blending tank is preparing the waste and mixing, the other blending tank is feeding the decanter. In effect, what we have enabled is a continuous batch process.

---

The SAS MIST Engineering

The MIST system itself, the separation stage, has a pump which will pump the waste from the relevant blending tank. This waste will then be processed through the decanter centrifuge which forms the core of our MIST treatment stage. This decanter is very robust. It has been proven in the field for decades. It does a fantastic job, and because our chemistry is now so thoroughly mixed into the waste, what you get is very dry solids recovered. These solids will come out the side of the MIST unit through a discharge port, and the solids are disposed off in a skip or in a pit that is located next to the treatment system.

The MIST process produces very dry solids, so we do not get a wet sludge coming out the side. And of course, dry solids minimizes the amount of waste for disposal because all the liquid that you would normally get into this “wet solids” discharge would have to be paid for at the disposal site. By producing a really dry, nice, powdery sludge, you get a fantastic result because of the SAS SludgeTreat chemistry.

The other discharge coming out of the decanter centrifuge is the liquid centrate. This is a mixture of the oil and the water. The centrate is pumped from the decanter out of the MIST system. The centrate is placed into a storage tank. In the storage tank, because the system has removed virtually all of the solids and because the SAS SludgeTreat chemistry is present, the oil and the water are simply going to separate under gravity.

 The oil is going to float to the top. You can recover this oil. You can sell it. You can reuse it. You can run a generator of it. Sometimes, you might want to bring that oil back to the preparation stage and dilute heavy sludge if that is what you are treating, and on the other end, you will be recovering the water. The water can either be discharged to the surface, to a sewer, go to a wastewater treatment plant, undergo further cleaning or filtration, depending on where you are, what the regulations and your permits are.

---

That, in a nutshell, is the MIST process. It is very effective. It is very robust. It handles virtually any type of liquid oil waste. If you want to know anything more and you have any questions, then do not hesitate to email us or give us a ring and get in touch with us. We would love to hear from you. Thank you.

Want to discover more? Listen to mark explain the SAS Process in the video below:

Solid, Liquid, what’s in a name.

We had worked on a number of projects where the nature of the waste was different from how it was described to us. Hazardous waste sample shipping is not always possible depending on the country of origin or the timeline involved. Sometimes we have go and visit the site and work locally. And at times what we find is a surprise.

The nature of oil waste is that the composition is rarely fixed. One pit will have solid waste, liquid waste and anything in between. Our job is to make the process and chemistry work on all of it.

Our MIST process is designed to separate liquid oil waste into solids, water and oil. At times we need to take waste that is high in solids (over 40%) and produce dry solids and remove any free liquids. The decanter will not safely process waste with such a high solids load. However, the SASES Waste Preparation Module is able to modify the waste using oil, water and/or the SAS SludgeTreat chemicals. This modification lowers the viscosity of the waste. By adding water or oil we reduce the overall solids content of the waste going into the decanter. The added oil and water is recovered at the end of the process.

This dual blend tank module enables the system to handle and treat virtually any type of oil waste and separate this into oil, water and solids.

Our project in Ecuador was a great example of our MIST system being augmented with this waste modification ability, providing the ability to the client to treat high solids waste and refinery oil sludge.

To find out more about hoe the SAS MIST performed in Ecuador, watch the video case study by clicking the button below.