Case Study: Offshore Supply Vessel Cleaning

A service company, based in the Gulf of Mexico, that provides dockside cleaning of offshore supply vessels (OSV) used 5 bbl of SAS PitClean 102C product to clean 4 x 600 bbl tanks in 4 hours and recover over $15,000 worth of oil. 

The Problem:

The OSV had been decommissioned due to extensive clogging of the gun-lines from previous attempts to lance the vessel using competing cleaning products. The service company's client was extremely anxious to get their vessel back in service as soon as possible, fully cleaned with all trace of drilling fluid and mud removed.

The OSV was configured with 4 x 600 bbl mud tanks shipping synthetic based mud. Up to 24" of packed barite was found on the bottom of tank #1, overlaid with approximately 40 bbl of pump-able mud. Tanks #2, #3 and #4 contained up to 6" of packed solids each with approximately 20 bbl of pump-able mud above the settled barite.

The SAS Solution:

The service company used SAS PitClean 102C to unclog the lines and clean the OSV to specification in a fraction of the time it would normally have taken. 

The following is the process they used:

• Recyclable mud was pumped from the tanks

• Gun-lines were lanced manually

• A 7.5% concentration wash pill was prepared by diluting 3 bbl of SAS PitClean 102C with 40 bbl of water and left to mix for 5 minutes

• The wash pill was pumped into tank #1 and circulated through gun lines for 45 minutes to complete the unclogging of the 24" of packed barite that was begun with the initial lancing

• Waste from this cleaning cycle was pumped from tank #1 to a recycling/settling unit to separate solids and liquid

• The recovered liquid phase containing viable recycled wash fluid was pumped into tank #2 which had 6" of packed barite

• A further 1 bbl of SAS PitClean 102C was added to the recycled wash fluid and run through the gun-lines

• The above described process was repeated of tank #3 and #4

To Sum Up...

• 5 bbl of the SAS-ES product was enough to clean all 4 tanks, removing all drilling fluid and mud within 4 hours total job time

• 130 bbl of viable mud was recovered post recycling with a value of $15,000

Case Study: Drilling Waste Treatment - Canada

An Alberta, Canada based waste management company used SAS SlopTreat 135SC to split and treat 600 MT of oil slop waste from drilling and production operations.

The Project... 

The aims of the project were to:

• Maximise the oil recovery from the waste

• Minimise the volume of solids to landfill

• Reduce BTEX levels to allow for Class II landfill

The SAS Solution...

The SAS SlopTreat 135SC product was added to the slops waste at a range of dose rates from 0.20% - 0.75%. After dosing, the standard inline mixing created a good contact between the product and the waste. A decanter centrifuge then processed the waste to remove the solids.

Extensive analysis was carried out on the recovered solids, the recovered oil and the water phase.

To Sum Up...

Nearly 600 MT of slops waste treated. The average oil content of the waste to start with was 13.7%.

• Total oil recovered was 77 m3, representing virtually full oil recovery

• A dose rate of 0.75% was the most effective

• Recovered solids were below BTEX levels and were disposed in standard Class II landfill

• Recovered water was injected in a disposal well

Global Petroleum Show 2019

North America's leading energy event, The Global Petroleum Show (GPS) begins today in Calgary, Canada at the Stampede Park, and will continue until the 13th of June. We thought it would be a good idea to pass on some details, in case it was of interest to any of you!

Described as the most important energy expo and conference in North America, GPS 2019 is set to attract more than 50,000 international and domestic oil and gas executives from over 21,000 companies. Officials from government, national and international energy companies across the entire supply chain will convene at GPS to share innovative technologies, conduct business and engage in complex and controversial discussions aimed to shape the future of the energy industry.

The GPS Conference is a comprehensive three-day program where 170+ leading industry experts share their knowledge and understanding across the event’s expansive line-up of strategic and technical conference sessions.

GPS is the premier international meeting place for the industry to introduce new technologies, share ideas, meet new prospects, and do business together. The show also provides a platform for all industry players to develop strategies for oil and gas, renewables, and introduce new energy sources not yet discovered.

It seems the Global Petroleum Show 2019 is not to be missed! For more information visit the GPS website.

Case Study: Offshore Mud Pit Cleaning - Brazil

For a period of 4 years SAS Environmental Services supplied its SAS Semi-Automated Tank Cleaning System and microemulsion SAS PitClean 102C products from Houston, Texas to Brazil.

The SAS Solution:

The fixed installed tank cleaning system, using Scanjet tank cleaning machines worked with the SAS PitClean 102C to quickly clean out the mud pits, fluidise all of the caked mud, flush the lines and reduce men entry into the pits. 

The SAS PitClean 102C was used to create a wash pill in a pit of 40bbl (3% SAS PitClean 102C). This wash pill was used to clean out all 14 mud pits and flush the lines.

After each pit the dirty wash pill was placed in pit 1 for settling out. The solids would settle out and the wash pill was re-used to clean out the next mud pit.

This was repeated until all 14 mud pits were clean to brine standard.

To Sum Up...

The total waste volume was approximately 80bbl. This would separate out under gravity into water for polishing and disposal and solids for transport back to shore.

Time reduction was 50% - 70% compared to standard cleaning approach using men entry and regular detergents.

Find out more about this case study here: 

The Problem with Flowback Waste

In this blog, there will be a quick introduction to flowback waste, one possible way to help address this challenge will be discussed and the results from a recent test on a flowback waste sample from the US will be shared.

Flowback is the waste generated through the fracturing process. The composition of flowback waste can differ greatly, containing anywhere from 3 – 60% solids with highly variable amounts of oil and water. This unpredictability results in a waste stream that is difficult to treat in terms of separating the solids, water and valuable oil.

Some areas are fortunate enough to have the right geology and regulatory environment to dispose of flowback from fracking operations into injection wells. However, most areas don’t have the luxury of injection, making treatment and disposal a serious issue.

One of the major issues related to dealing with flowback waste is the transportation costs. In most cases the water required to frack a well is trucked in, and then the flowback waste is trucked out. Trucking the water in for an average well can easily require 200 truckloads, and shipping the flowback waste out requires even more.   

Reducing the volume of drilling waste, re-using recovered water and in the process reducing the number of truckloads, represents a huge cost saving opportunity for the industry.

So, how is this possible? I’ll use a recent lab test to help demonstrate the possibilities.

The picture below is from a flowback waste sample recently sent to us by one of our US customers. This flowback waste had a relatively low solids content but a significant amount of oil. Separating the waste using heat and other chemistries had been unsuccessful.

We tested the SAS-ES chemical on this waste and within 10 minutes of adding the SAS SludgeTreat product, the waste separated into clear oil and water phases, with a small rag layer of oil/solids in the middle.

If a decanter centrifuge were used to treat the waste, one would be able to achieve an almost complete solids removal and a very good oil and water split.

In the field this would allow for the user to recover virtually all of the water and oil. The much smaller volume of dry solids would then be trucked away to a landfill.

The ability to re-use high quality fracking water has the potential to cut water transport to well sites by up to 80% (or approx.160 trucks). As the solids are such a small part of this waste stream, waste disposal and waste transport costs can be greatly reduced, in some cases by as much as over 90%.

There is no doubt that fracking waste, be it flowback or other drilling waste, is a major issue.  The good news is that there are methods that could cut waste volumes and associated disposal costs by an order of magnitude.  

If you’re dealing with flowback waste or other drilling waste, and you’re interested in reducing waste volumes and disposal costs, feel free to get in touch! 

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SAS-ES Successfully Handles USA Oil Slops Treatment

SAS-ES were supplied with a sample of oil slops waste (pictured right) from operations in Texas, USA where an effective chemical dosing and separation process was being sought. For this project, SAS-ES were set the task of maximising oil and solids recovery, so that the clean water fraction could be recovered for polishing and safe disposal via salt-water disposal wells. This would require SAS-ES products to effectively split the waste into three distinct phases of oil, water and solids, in order to maximise the recovery of clean oil, thus retaining a high water quality for disposal.

Here's how SAS-ES successfully dealt with this oil slops treatment project.

What we did... 

Samples of the waste were dosed directly with different SAS-ES products, then shaken thoroughly for 30 seconds and spun in a spin out rotor centrifuge at 3,000rpm for 2 minutes. Gravity separation tests were also conducted and all testing was carried out at room temperature.

The results... 

When the oil slop sample was treated with SAS-ES products there was a rapid and marked improvement in oil, water and solids separation was observed, and a higher quality water fraction was produced. Each product tested performed well, including our SAS SlopTreat products, which are the most cost effective and environmentally sound.

In the case of this oil slop sample, separation using gravity could be achieved in just 2 minutes! As shown in the picture below.

 In the test when centrifugation was used, a clean separation was achieved to yield a clean water fraction for disposal, a clean oil phase on the surface and a fine solids fraction as a lower phase. As shown in the picture below.

So to sum up...

The SAS SlopTreat products have the ability to greatly enhance the treatment of the oil slop sample. Not only did SAS-ES enable faster separation, but we also enabled a cleaner and more efficient separation to take place allowing recovery of clean water, oil and solids phases.

It is clear without the SAS SlopTreat chemistry this waste sample would not readily separate and oil recovery would not be possible!

OTC 2019 - Was It Worth It?

Last week the SAS-ES team travelled to Houston, Texas for the Offshore Technology Conference. Just 5 years ago, in 2014, attendance numbers for this trade show were over 100,000, however in recent years they have plummeted down to around 60,000. Does this drop in numbers signify the end of an era of successful trade shows? We thought we'd take this opportunity to share with you our thoughts, and how the conference went for SAS-ES. 

The global oil industry is recovering, oil prices are stable, and OTC is still recognised as the largest global event for the industry, so you would assume the show would be improving and getting bigger every year? However, attendance numbers actually show a gradual decline each year since 2014, with OTC 2019 recording the lowest numbers yet with only 59,200 attendees. 

However, even with this downward trend, OTC 2019 was still a very productive, successful and busy week for SAS-ES. We find OTC is a great opportunity to meet with our clients, and future clients, from the USA but also from further afield, in regions such as Latin America, Africa, and the Middle and Far East. We had some very important face to face meetings with a selection of regional partners and customers from South America, in order to negotiate the crucial details of some substantial onward contracts. We agreed upon, and committed to, strategic routes forward towards commercialisation later this year, busy times ahead of us for sure! 

During our time at OTC, SAS-ES were situated at the Scottish Development International stand. We had a lot of visitors come by the stand and ask for us specifically, with people continuously commenting on just how much traffic SAS-ES were getting, so we must be doing something right!

With over 70 Scottish companies exhibiting at the SDI stand it really shows why Scotland's oil and gas industry has a global reputation for innovation. We owe a huge thank you to the amazing team at SDI who organised the trade mission and who worked tirelessly for us during OTC. 

"With decades of experience in oil and gas and abundant renewable energy resources, Scotland is the natural supply chain partner for your energy project."

So, maybe it is not the case that these figures prove the demise of trade shows, perhaps they just have to be approached slightly differently in order for them to be successful. With less people attending, and therefore less chance of visitors just stumbling across your stand, the days of sitting in your booth waiting on people coming to you are over. We believe quality is better than quantity, but to reach this quality it is crucial to prepare thoroughly before the event.

Here's how we do it:

• Advertise that your company is going to be there. Write blogs, post LinkedIn statuses, send out newsletters, add the information to your website, anything you can to get the word out.

• Research companies that would be beneficial to meet with. Have a look through the exhibitor list in advance and reach out to anyone that could be of interest, it will keep you busy!

• Try and make a plan. We know that events like this it is almost impossible to stick to a schedule but if you have a rough idea of who you are meeting with and when, it is easier to manage your time and make sure you aren't sitting around doing nothing for too long. 

Overall it was a very productive and successful week for SAS-ES, making us very excited for things to come. Thank you to all who came to visit us, to all our friends, clients and supporters.

Do you agree or disagree with us? How did you get on at OTC this year? Please do let us know in the comments below and maybe we'll see you at OTC 2020...

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Case Study: Drilling Waste Treatment - Pennsylvania

A waste management company based in Pennsylvania used SAS SludgeTreat 156SC to split and treat heavy emulsified oil slop waste from drilling operations. 

The Problem...

The waste management company was previously using a combination of engineering equipment, dewatering chemistry and heating, which was ineffective at treating the waste to specification. This was due to the complex chemical nature of the slop waste, which was made up of different proportions of oil, water, solids, brines and various other drilling and cleaning chemicals and glycol. 

The waste material ultimately could not be treated and had to be stored onsite taking up valuable tank storage capacity. In addition the waste was sticky and contaminated clarifiers, crystallisation units, filtration equipment, etc.

Any oil that was recovered was actually emulsion waste with 40 - 60% water content. This was well below the requirements of a nearby refinery and any waste oil collection facility.  

The SAS Solution...

The waste management company used SAS SludgeTreat 156SC to treat 60m3 heavily emulsified slop waste using a simple chemical dose, mix and separate process:

• The slop was dosed with the SAS product at a rate of 0.1% by weight

• Mixing was carried out through batch processing

• The treated slop was stored in tanks and a decanter used to separate out the solid and liquid fractions

To Sum Up...

• Total reduction of waste volume = 60%

• Increase in volume of oil recovered = 35%

• Oil quality improvement from 48% water to < 5% water

• No emulsion waste remaining after treatment

• Full 3-way split into dry solids, water and oil 

OTC 2019 - Advice for the Event

This weekend the SAS-ES team are headed to Houston, Texas for The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) taking place next week! Having attended OTC for the past 19 years we thought we should share with you some of our best advice for the event, which we gained the hard way...

So here are our 4 Top Tips for OTC:

Registration

Most people who attend will head to register at the main NRG centre, meaning the lines are extensive. However, we found a good place to register and usually avoid waiting times is the NRG Arena. Generally, assume that initial parking and registration will take around 1-2 hours at the start of your first day.

TIP: Make sure you pre-register before arriving and bring your print out and photo ID.

Eat & Drink

With so much going on you have to make sure you are maintaining regular food consumption, usually the best eating options are outside. Remember peak times will get very busy, and you may find it difficult to find a seat for yourself and your colleagues/contacts. Beat the rush and the crowds by having lunch either a bitter earlier or later than usual. 

TIP: You can find a variety of snacks to keep you going through the day at our booth (#1161). 

Remember to Rest 

OTC, like Houston, is incredibly spread out and the event will include a LOT of walking, from outdoor exhibits to the NRG arena to the main exhibition halls in the NRG centre. Try to fit in a few visits to booths with seating arrangements strategically throughout your week to rest your sore feet. Also, comfortable shoes are an essential.

TIP: Our booth (#1161) has a lovely area with seats for you to rest at, come and visit!

Plan, Plan, Plan

Tradeshows always need a plan, and massive tradeshows like OTC need a good plan. If you are going to make the most out of your week you need to know who you are meeting, when you are meeting, where the booths you want to visit are located, etc! Make a plan and split up your time wisely over the week, don't cram it all into the first couple of days.

TIP: Always carry your exhibition map, you never know when you could get lost...

We hope this advice can be of help to you over the week, and see you there!

If you're going to be at OTC be sure to come and visit the SAS-ES team. Find us at the Scotland Pavilion in the NRG Centre (Scottish Development International Stand, Booth #1161). If you get lost, just look for the Scottish flag! 

If you are interested in arranging a meeting with SAS-ES during OTC, please get in contact.

OTC 2019 - Hints and Tips for Houston

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is right around the corner, so we thought it would be a good time to share some of our best Hints and Tips for when you are in Houston! If, like the team at SAS-ES, you are making the trip to Texas for the event next month you'll want to read on...

Not only have the SAS-ES team attended OTC for the past 19 years, but Houston, Texas is where our COO, John Harrison is based. So it is fair to say we have gathered some pretty good knowledge of the city over the years, and here it is!

Eating Out

Make sure not all your meals are eaten at OTC, Houston has some great restaurants, especially steakhouses. One of our favourites is Taste of Texas, great food, an informal atmosphere, and you get to pick your own steak! 

TIP: Taste of Texas don't do reservations, you just turn up and wait but trust us - it's worth it.

Traffic

Houston is incredibly spread out and the roads can get very busy, especially with an event like OTC going on. The busiest days at the show are usually Monday and Tuesday, so make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to get there. 

TIP: Beat the traffic at the end of the day and try and get finished up around 3PM.

Mobile Phone

For foreign visitors who do not have a US cellphone the roaming costs for using your mobile phone in the States can be very high. We would recommend purchasing a pay as you go mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, simply carry in your pocket and hook up to your smart phone, tablet or laptop without excessive roaming charges.

TIP: Mobile hotspots can be found at most phone shops, e.g. Best Buy etc.

We hope this advice can be of help to you over the week, and see you there!

If you're going to be at OTC be sure to come and visit the SAS-ES team. Find us at the Scotland Pavilion in the NRG Centre (Scottish Development International Stand, Booth #1161). If you get lost, just look for the Scottish flag! 

If you are interested in arranging a meeting with SAS-ES during OTC, please get in contact.

OTC 2019 - Celebrating 50 Years

"For 50 years, OTC has encouraged scientists and engineers to develop innovative technologies that have unleashed the potential of offshore energy sources needed for global growth and progress."

Next month the SAS-ES team, including Mark Zwinderman, John Harrison and Sophie Cochrane, will be travelling to Houston, Texas to attend the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC).

Set to take place from Monday the 6th - Thursday the 9th of May, OTC is recognised as the largest global event for the oil and gas industry, boasting more than 500,000 sq. ft of exhibit space. 

We are very excited for this event as over 60,000 energy professionals from more than 100 countries, and over 2,000 leading providers of products and services are expected to converge at OTC this year. All ready to exchange ideas and opinions to advance scientific and technical knowledge for offshore resources and environmental matters.

This year is particularly special as it will be a celebration of 50 years of OTC. This celebration is a recognition of OTC's deep commitment to the people and companies who have helped the event reach this milestone.

"Since 1969, OTC has brought energy sector pioneers together to discuss offshore’s evolution and to experience ground-breaking innovations in one place, at one time."

For more information visit the OTC website.

OTC is a great event for the international oil and gas community so if you're going to be there be sure to visit us throughout the week at the Scotland Pavilion in the NRG Centre (Scottish Development International Stand, Booth #1161). If you get lost, just look for the Scottish flag! 

If you are interested in arranging a meeting with SAS-ES during OTC, please get in contact.

We would love to see you there!