Mud Tank Cleaning Using Microemulsions

We are all aware of the traditional method of manual mud tank cleaning, where teams of trained personnel enter contaminated mud tanks, often erecting scaffolding in order to gain access to the higher parts of the wall and the roof of the tank. However, we don't think this is the most efficient or effective way to get the cleaning done...

Manually cleaning mud tanks is time intensive, costly, and overall a very dirty, tiring job. When you take all these factors into consideration, it is definitely time to find a new way to approach this old issue. We believe the answer lies within the development of microemulsion delivery systems for the cleaning of drilling rig mud pits and platform supply vessels. 

Microemulsion chemical technology, when paired with an innovative mechanical delivery system, really reaches a new, optimised level of tank cleaning with fewer health and safety issues compared to the traditional method of operation. Cleaning operations can also be greatly enhanced through the use of 'cleaning in place systems' or 'CIP'. These systems consist of designed skids containing filtration and pumping equipment capable of delivering sufficient pressure and flow to deliver a microemulsion solution to as many as four mud tanks at a time!

By using geared cleaning nozzles, the entire inside of a mud tank can be covered with a microemulsion cleaning solution within a matter of minutes. This minimises man entry into the mud tank, resulting in a fraction of the time being required. Once these nozzles are in place and connected to the CIP system, the microemulsion cleaning solution is pumped through the system and breaks up the drilling mud on the tank walls and the mud cake on the tank floor. The resulting liquid waste can be easily removed using standard pumping equipment.

The microemulsion technology breaks down the mud, creating low viscous slurry. This waste stream is then placed either in a weir tank where solids can settle, and the liquid is reused for further cleaning operations, or the waste is treated using hydro cyclones and/or filtration equipment. The use of microemulsion chemistry allows for a continuous mud tank cleaning process, either onshore for the processing of supply vessels or offshore on the rig.

More information on microemulsions is available on our website!

How Microemulsions Can Solve Your Decommissioning Problems

Decommissioning is undoubtedly a major operational and environmental challenge for operators in the North Sea and other geographic locations. Following some highly publicised decommissioning projects there is pressure on operators and their service partners to adopt the best available technology and the best environmental option wherever possible, to ensure operations are carried out in a safe and environmentally sound manner.

One of the major environmental concerns is how best to clean out heavily contaminated storage tanks in order to reduce the risk of environmental contamination during the dismantling process. There is also pressure on operators to carry out as much remediation work as possible offshore. This is so that the removal and disposal of the waste streams can be carried out on site rather than risk the regulatory consequences of transporting this type of waste back to shore. In general, the decommissioning process can be very risky business involving some serious potential hazards and many unknowns.

It is clear the cleaning operations are not simple, with structures offering little or no access it makes surveying and pre-assessment difficult, and sometimes impossible. Due to this, it is necessary to find an inventive fluid-based solution for cleaning, rather than one based on engineering alone. This is where SAS-ES come in with our response to the problem... Microemulsion cleaning technology.

Our aqueous-based and water-soluble cleaning product range has been proven in the field and demonstrated as one of the most effective forms of cleaning solution available to the upstream oil and gas sector. It has already been successfully used for wellbore cleanup and surface/solids cleaning applications. 

This chemical product range boasts many advantages, being safe to handle with all products classified as readily biodegradable and non-hazardous for transport. The waste produced from this cleaning operation can also be minimised on site and treated in a straightforward manner in order to produce clean solids recovered, clean water for disposal and recovered organic phases for recycling/reuse.

Typically, hazardous oil contaminated waste volumes have been reduced by 70-100% through the implementation of this technology. We'll take that as a success!

Learn more about microemulsions by having a look at our other blog posts on the topic!

Microemulsions and Their Advantages

The process of microemulsification has proven particularly effective in hard surface cleaning applications in the oil and gas industry. The use of this capability exploits a number of features whereby a microemulsion forming surfactant system can absorb oil from a bulk of oil phase, thus forming a microemulsion. So, what are the advantages of this approach?

• Microemulsions can absorb oil from an oil coated solid surface or fine solids particulates with the same result without forming stable emulsion waste as a result.

• Oil contaminated surfaces can be rendered completely oil free as a result of the microemulsification process.

• Any contaminated oil is simply dissolved and then split out by the solution following removal from the tank and can therefore be recovered.

• Microemulsions tend to increase in their cleaning efficiency when the active ingredient concentration is increased, therefore lower volumes of higher concentrations may be used in micro-emulsion based cleaning formulations.

• Microemulsion systems may also be used to much greater effect at much lower concentrations when compared to normal emulsion forming surfactant systems, resulting in reduced waste, time and cost savings, and improved health and safety aspects.

• Reduction of man entry into confined spaces of hazardous storage tanks by the use of automated tank cleaning systems and application of the right type of chemistry. 

By working together tank cleaning companies, chemical suppliers, and tank terminals or refinery operators have the ability to reduce the downtime of storage tanks in the maintenance cycle, minimise waste volumes produced and maximise levels of oil recovery during the process using this technology. Waste recovered from these operations can also be separated into water and solids while the recovered oil is simply returned to the storage system or refinery.

It is clear there are many advantages, and therefore no reason why tank cleaning time, waste reduction and oil recovery can't be improved by 50-95% by adopting an integrated approach of using these chemistries. 

If you want to learn more about microemulsions, why not contact us today?