Idrabel Tank Cleaning

5/23/2018 Idrabel Tank Cleaning

1/8

Refinery & Terminal OilStorage Tank Cleaning andSludge Management ServicesIncrease your storage capacity and maximize hydrocarbon recovery;while reducing downtime, risk, waste and cost


2/8

Features

Thermographic 3-D mappingand sludge

characterization provides a clear picture

of the quantity/quality of sludge. This

information is used to develop an optimizedtank cleaning program and to quantify the

potential recovery of valuable oil

Sludge Management Systemto minimize

the accumulation of sludge in the tanks.

BIORECOIL^System:re-suspends sludge

and separate hydrocarbons, water and

solids to enable the recovery of oil and

storage capacity with the tank in-service.

NOGAS^system:Tank degassing with zero

emissions before opening the tank.

All equipment installation and

preparation of tank for processing at

ground level with the tank in-service

Unique, integrated, biotechnological

and hydro-mechanical process for

automated in-tank separation and

oil recovery

No requirement to open the tank unless

complete cleaning is required for

inspection and maintenance

All work is carried out with certifiedequipment according to zone

specifications

Benefits Maximize storage capacity without

taking tanks offline or emptying tanks

Recovers over 95% of valuable

hydrocarbons trapped in sludge. Reduces up to 95% of waste-treatment

volumes, disposal requirement and cost

Reduces up to 90% of personnel

entry into confined space compared

to other methods

Mitigates personnel risks through the

elimination of working at height and

reduced crane lifts

The system can be used to clean

damaged tanks

Eliminate the need for a secondary

buffer tank

With the sludge treatment inside the

tank the hydrocarbons are largely

separated from the solid. Only if the tank

needs to be cleaned to a gas free are the

settled solids are then jetted from the

tank and recovered to an external

separation system (centrifuge etc.)


3/8

APPLICATIONS

Refineries and tank farms, marine and

shipping terminals, and any installation

with hydrocarbon-storage tanks.

PROBLEMS

Storage-tank sludge contains valuable

hydrocarbons that can be recovered.

Conventional tank-cleaning methods

do not reduce the waste and the

resultant expense of disposal. These

conventional methods also take tanks

offline for a significant period of time,

costing owners considerable revenue.

SOLUTIONS

M-I SWACO has solved this problem

with the BIORECOILprocess that is

completely automatic, designed to

desludge the tank, minimize cleaningtime and manpower, recover as much

as 95% of the hydrocarbons, reduce

the resultant waste by up to 95% all

while the tanks stay on-line.

ECONOMICS

The value of the recovred oil,

combined with the saving from the

reduction in waste and the reduced

downtime of the tank collectively make

the use of theBIORECOILsystem a high

value proposition for the refinery or oil

storage owner.

ENVIRONMENTAL

The system uses environmentally

acceptable natural products that

are tested for biodegradability and

deliver optimal results while ensuring

operator safety and significantly

reducing waste generation.

As sludge accumulates inside your

storage tanks, it slowly reduces your

profits along with the usable tank space.

Conventional tank-cleaning methods can

be just as detrimental to your business

revenue, because they can work against

you in three ways. They take your tanksout of service for prolonged periods,

they generate waste and sludge

volumes, and they can require dangerous

work practices.

The advanced BIORECOILprocess from

M-I SWACO helps you maximize your

storage capacity rather than draining your

operating budget removing waste. Not

only does the process release revenue by

recovering more than 95% of the valuable

hydrocarbons present in the sludge, italso helps tank operators reduce waste-

disposal costs by up to 95%.

The M-I SWACO system is also inherently

safe. All of the hydromechanical equipment

is installed in the lateral manways of the

tank at ground level, eliminating the risks

associated with roof-installed equipment,

and the system requires no personnel

entry, creating a safer alternative totraditional manual solutions or semi-

automatic systems that work from the roof.

After the initial use of the system, the

equipment can be left in place to provide

on-going sludge management, protecting

your tanks from corrosion and maintaining

processing capacity as well as reducing

your long-term operating costs by

preventing sludge accumulation.

Recover up to 95% of yourhydrocarbons and reduce

waste-disposal costs by asmuch as 95%


4/8

How the BIORECOILin-tank separation

and recovery process works

Because tank sludge consists of varying

ratios of hydrocarbons, water and some

solids, M-I SWACO performs 3D Sludge

Mapping and Characterization in order

to develop the most appropriate sludge

treatment and cleaning program that

ensures optimum results.

The M-I SWACOBIORECOILprocess

From experience, M-I SWACO knows

that the bulk of a sludge mass is the oil

and water, with the solids being a much

lower percentage. Our strategy for the

on-line desludging is to separate and

remove the oil and water from the solids.

This can be repeated several times without

losing a significant amount of a tanks

working volume and without shutting the

tank down, taking it offline and sacrificing

its productivity.

Because the BIORECOILprocess does not

require removing the roofs legs or tapping

the roof, the floating roof can be kept

floating at all times, eliminating the vapor

space. After the treatment, if required, the

floating roof will land uniformly, avoiding

mechanical troubles and enhancing the

safety of the operation.

The process has been successfully used

for cleaning more than 100 oil tanks, fuel

oil tanks and slop tanks belonging to

leading oil companies around the world.

BIORECOILcleaning is most effective

for tanks with capacities and diameters

ranging from 1,000 m3/20 m diameter up to

160,000 m3/100 m diameter.

Sludge mapping and characterization

This begins with a thermographic survey that yields an accurate 3-D picture of the amount

of sludge and its distribution profile. M-I SWACO collects the thermographic information

from various points outside the tank and around its perimeter. This data is added to

imagery from ATEX-certified density-profile sensors and proprietary software. M-I SWACO

also gathers samples of the sludge to determine its properties and design the optimum

tank-cleaning strategy. This will also enable us to forecast the amount of recoverable oil

as well as the amount of solids that will remain after the cleaning process has finished.

Cold tapping and circulation

With the cleaning strategy determined, M-I SWACO then uses cold-tap technology

to create an opening into the tank through the blind flanges, without hot works. This

eliminates having to open the manways, regardless of the sludge and oil levels. The cold

tapping device is then replaced with a telescoping jetting tool that is used to circulate

the contents of the tank (sludge and oil) with a predetermined amount of biosurfactants.

During circulation, the oil, water, biosurfactants and solids are thoroughly mixed together

to create a temporarily stable emulsion.


5/8

180

-30

+30

Before separation

SludgeWater

Oil

Solids

After separation

Closed-loop, in-tank separation

and oil recovery

At the end of this phase the pumps

are switched off and the oil and waterseparate from each other and from the

solid phase. The oil phase, unchanged by

the biosurfactant, can now be pumped

directly to a ship or another tank, via the

closed-loop system. The water phase

is pumped to a wastewater system or

another process. With storage capacity

recovered and the sludge removed, thesmall residue of solids (salts, sands and

mineral oxides) can be left in the tank until

a total tank cleaning is required.

Although the cleaning process is

automatic, we constantly monitor

quantitative and qualitative parameters

throughout the operation. Particular careis taken during the recovery of oil and

during a degassing operation, with multiple

sensors delivering real-time gas analyses

from different locations around the tank.

Hydraulically controlled jets rotate to create optimized circulation pattern


6/8

M-I SWACO has additional services tokeep your operation safe and productive

Complete tank cleaning. For situations

when a tank must be completely cleaned,

inspection or maintenance work, for

example M-I SWACO can remove the

residual solids from the tank, and still

minimize personnel entry. We use the same

circulation equipment as for desludging but

with the nozzles changed for hot washing.

We pump the solids to a separation tank

where they can be centrifuged prior

to disposal. Detailed manual cleaning

can then take place in the areas behind

pipework and legs.

Degassing.When a tank must be

completely cleaned via the hot-water

method, M-I SWACO can help you avoid

the risks associated with gas accumulation

within the tanks vapor space. Our NOGAS

degassing employs a gas-scrubbing

column attached to the exterior of the tank.

A pneumatic extractor draws in the gas

into the column where it is neutralized

with a nebulized spray of LECS. The

system can reduce the Lower Explosive

Limits (LEL) to below 5% before the

manholes are opened without emission

into the atmosphere.

Particular care is taken during degassing

operations, with multiple sensors

delivering real-time gas analyses from

different locations around the tank.

Production waste management.

M-I SWACO can help you deal effectively

with your tank wastes and help keep

you in compliance with local, state and

national environmental regulations.

We can help you treat the waste wateras well as the remaining sludge.

Whatever your requirements, we

provide a range of waste-management

solutions that can be tailored to suit your

operational requirements.

Continuous emissions control.M-I SWACO

can reduce dangerous gas emissions from

storage tanks and other sources with the

LECS VOC CONTROL^system. Situated on

the tank roof, the system sprays a fine

mist of surfactants, chelating agents andnutrients onto the gaseous emissions to

neutralize volatile organic compounds.

Safety and the environment aretop priorities for M-I SWACO

M-I SWACO provides leading oil and gas

waste management and environmental

technology, from the oilfield to the refinery.

All of our personnel are trained to the

highest standards and dedicated to

complying with QHSE requirements.

BIORECOILis an environmentally

responsible technology as thebiosurfactants used are natural

biotechnological products that have no

detrimental effect on the environment

or on the oils recovered. Hydrocarbons

can be effectively recovered in-situ

from the bottom sludge, leading to a

significant reduction in the amount of

waste to be disposed of in landfill or

transformed in inert matter. The process

also has a minimal effect on the immediate

environment, minimizing the risks ofdamage to the tank due to the use of

mechanical equipment, and cutting the

impact in terms of emissions into the

immediate vicinity.Avoid risks from gas accumulation with theROTOFLEX* degassing system

LECS VOCCONTROLsystem in service toabate gaseous emissions


7/8

Europe

BIORECOILprocess removes90% of sludge, recovers$2 million of oil

A client wanted to minimize sludge

content in a tank with a diameter

of 61 m and a volume of 65,000 m3.

Thermographic imaging and manual

measurements quantified the sludge

volume, and then three telescopic-

nozzle modules were installed

on the tank shell through existing

manway covers. This project used a

combination of biosurfactants and the

crude oil in the tank.

Desludging required 30 days, and

the tank was kept in service except

during the circulation phase. Following

theBIORECOILprocess, 99% of the

hydrocarbon content was recovered,

and the sludge was reduced by 90%,

restoring valuable storage capacity

with no significant service interruption.

Europe

M-I SWACO recovers4,700 m3oil in just 12 days,with no personnel entry

M-I SWACO used the BIORECOIL

process to recover 97% of the

hydrocarbons trapped in 5,000 m3

of sludge from a clients tank with

a diameter of 96.5 m and a capacity

of 160,000 m3.

Analysis of the tank revealed that

the sludge was composed of 94%

hydrocarbons, 4.5% water and

1.5% sediment. Four hydro-dynamic

modules were installed through

existing manways on the tank shell.

M-I SWACO circulated the tank for

120 hours with the floating roof in the

service position. The biosurfactants

were mixed with 11,000 m3of cutting

oil and 3,700 m3of fire-fighting water.

The recovery of the hydrocarbons

took just 12 days with the entire

project lasting 10 weeks due to

additional maintenance works.

No personnel entry was required to

process the sludge.

Africa

Client recovers $1 millionof crude during pre-demolitioncleaning

The floating roof on a 76-meter-

diameter tank (90,000-m3capacity) had

distorted and sunk, and there were

leaks at the bottom of the tank. The

client needed to demolish the roof and

recover as much of the oil as possible.

During the BIORECOILprocess, safetywas paramount, which necessitated

gas monitoring and the use of the

LECS VOC CONTROLsystem. Following

oil recovery, the tank was washed

and drained so the roof could then

be dismantled.

All demolition devices were equipped

with special probes connected to

an LEL detector. The entire process,

including roof demolition, took just

15 weeks and recovered 30,000 m3ofcrude from the tank and an additional

2,850 m3from the sludge.

Success stories

For a safe, efficient and cost-effective

solution for recovering storagecapacity and hydrocarbons, contact

M-I SWACO today.


8/8

This information is supplied solely for informational purposes and M-I SWACO makes no guarantees or

warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy and use of this data. All product

warranties and guarantees shall be governed by the Standard Terms of Sale. Nothing in this document

is legal advice or is a substitute for competent legal advice.

Technology Centers

M-I SWACO

Houston, Texas

Tel: 2815611300

Fax: 5612811441

M-I SWACO

Via Molinero, 4

Zona P.A.I.P.

Savona, 17100

ITALY

Tel: 39019264110

P.O. Box 42842

Houston, Texas 77242-2842

www.miswaco.slb.com

Email: [email protected]

2010 M-I L.L.C.All rights reserved. *Mark of M-I L.L.C. ^Mark of Idrabel Italia S.r.l.DBR.2008.1101.R1 (E) 300 Digital in U.S.A.

Documents

Idrabel Tank Cleaning