On-shore Oil Exploration

Situation

A leading waste management and recycling company that specialises in collection, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes commissioned Kolina to demonstrate the suitability of its patented EC treatment system against injected wastewater from oil drill sites. Adequate reductions in the contaminants of concern will help provide safe discharge of the treated injected water to sea, or possibly reuse. A successful large-scale demonstration would therefore significantly reduce disposal costs, as well as enhancing the green credentials of drilling operations in the UK.

The main targets were to consistently demonstrate high reduction rates in the following to allow for safe discharge to sea or open water bodies:

• Petroleum hydrocarbons
• Dissolved metals
• Chlorides
• Sulphides
• Ammonia
• Total nitrogen

Solution

A demonstration of the EC technology to consistently achieve high reductions of the concerned contaminants. The system was fully automated and required little operator intervention.

Results

Chemical-free operation was achieved with operator input of just 30 minutes each day.  Kolina’s electrocoagulation treatment centre achieved high reduction efficiencies across a wide group of contaminants, with no breaches of discharge consents.