www.covenantuniversity.edu.

ng

Raising a new Generation of Leaders

Oil & Gas Pollution & Control

PET 416
Introduction to envtal control in the
Petroleum Industry
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Having worked through this topic students will:
• Have a overview of the environmental issues in the oil & gas industry
• Understand the different sources of oil & gas wastes

2
 Introduction
• The upstream petroleum industry
• The downstream petroleum industry
Upstream conducts all exploration and production activities.
End point are essential products such as;
• Transportation fuels
• Electrical power generation
• Space heating
• Medicine and;
• petrochemicals

3
 Introduction
• The activities of finding and producing petroleum can impact on the
environment.
• The greatest impact arises from the release of wastes into the
environment in conc that are not naturally found
• These wastes are;
 Hydrocarbon
 Solids contaminated with H/C
 Water contaminated with variety of dissolved and suspended solids
 Varieties of chemicals
The impacts vary from significantly adverse effects-minute -beneficiary

4
 Introduction
The adverse impact can be minimized or eliminated through;
• proper implementation of waste management
• Proactive approach to managing operations
• Proper education on those activities that can potentially harm the
environment.
The proactive approach involves adopting attitude of environmental
responsibility and not just to comply with regulations but to actually
protect the environment while doing business.

5
 Overview of Environmental Issues
Doing business while minimizing adverse impact of oil & gas
operations requires understanding of the complex issues facing the
upstream industry. The issues concerns;
• Operations that generate wastes
• Their potential influence on the envt.
• Mechanism and pathways for waste migration
• Effective ways to manage wastes
• Treatment methods to reduce volume/or toxicity
• Disposal methods
• Remediation methods for contaminated site

6
 Sources of Wastes
Wastes can be generated from variety of activities associated with
petroleum production. These wastes fall into the general categories;
• Produced water
• Drilling wastes
• Associated wastes
Example: In the U.S
Produced water = 98% of total waste
Drilling waste = 2%

7
 Sources of Wastes – Produced water
Produced water virtually contains impurities. If the conc is sufficient, it
can impact adversely on the envt. These impurities are:
• Dissolve solids (Salts & Heavy Metal)
• Suspended & Dissolved organic materials
• Formation Solids
• Hydrogen sulfide
• Carbon dioxide
• At times NORM (naturally occurring radioactive materials).

8
 Sources of Wastes – Produced water
Apart from all these, there could be chemical additives such as;
• Coagulants
• Corrosion inhibitors (e.g methanol)
• Emulsion breakers
• Biocides
• Dispersants
• Paraffin control agents
• Scale inhibitiors

9
 Sources of Wastes – Produced water
Water produced from chemical & water flooding may also contain;
• Acids
• Oxygen scavengers
• Surfactants
• Friction/drag reducers
• Scale dissolvers that were initially injected in to the formation.

10
 Sources of Wastes – Drilling wastes
Drilling wastes include;
• Formation cuttings
• Drilling fluids.
WB mud may contain
• Viscosity control agents – clays
• Density control agents – barium sulfate, barite
• Defloculants – chrome-lignosulfonate or lignite
• Caustic – sodium hydroxide
• Corrosion inhibitors
• Biocide
• Lubricants
• Lost circulation materials
• Formation compatibility agents

11
 Sources of Wastes – Drilling wastes
OB mud also contain;
• A base hydrocarbon
• Chemicals to maintain its water-oil emulsion
The most commonly use H/C is diesel followed by less toxic mineral or
synthetic oil
Drilling fluid generally contain heavy metals such;
• Barium
• Chromium
• Cadmium
• Mercury
• Lead

12
 Sources of Wastes – Drilling wastes
These metals can enter the system from materials added to the fluid or
from NORM in the formation drilled

13
 Sources of Wastes – Associated wastes
Associated wastes are those wastes other than produced water and drilling
wastes. These include;
• Sludges and solids collected inside surface equipment and tank bottoms
• Pit wastes
• Water softener wastes
• Scrubber wastes
• Stimulation wastes – Acidization, hydraulic fracturing & Nitro shooting
• Wastes from gas dehydration & sweetening
• Transportation wastes
• Contaminated soil from accidental spills and release

14
 Sources of Wastes – Air Emission
These emissions arise primarily from the operation of internal combustion engines. These
engines are used to;
• power drilling rigs
• Pumps
• Compressor
• And other field equipment
Other emissions arise from the operations of;
• Boilers
• Steam generators
• Gas dehydrators
• Seperators
• Leaking valves & fittings e.t.c.

15
16
 Environmental Impact of Wastes
• The primary measure of the envtal impact of petroleum wastes is
their toxicity to exposed organisms. This toxicity is commonly
reported as its concentration in water that results in the death of half
of the exposed organisms within a given length of time.
• Exposure time for toxicity tests are typically 96 hours.
• Common test organisms include;
 Mysid
 Shrimp or spreadsheet minnows

17
 Environmental Impact of Wastes
There are 3 measures of toxicity effect;
i. The conc that is lethal to half of the exposed population for a given
test is termed 𝐿𝐶50 .
• High values of 𝐿𝐶50 implies that high concentration of that substance
is required for lethal effects to be observed.
• This indicates low toxicity.
ii. The conc at which half of the exposed organisms exhibit sublethal
effects is called 𝐸𝐶50
iii. The conc below which no effects are observed is called (NOEC)

18
 Environmental Impact of Wastes
The environmental impact of hydrocarbons in water varies
considerably;
• Toxicity of aromatic H/C is relatively high
• Toxicity of straight-chain paraffins is relatively low.
• 𝐿𝐶50 values for most common aromatic H/C in the industry are in the
order of 10ppm (benzene, toluene xylene and ethylbenzene)
• H/C conc. Of less than mg/l in water has been found to have
sublethal effect on some organisms
• Other effects of H/C include stunted growth if conc. Of H/C in
contaminated soil is above 1% by wt

19
 Environmental Impact of Wastes
• Lower conc. Enhance plant growth
• Marine animals that use hair and feathers for insulation can die of
hypothermia if coated with oil
High dissolved salt conc. For most produced water can also impact the
environment.
• Dissolved salt conc. For produced water is between 50,000 – 150,000ppm.
• Sea water salt conc. Is about 35,000ppm
• Dissolved slat affects plant ability to absorb water and nutrents from soil .
• It can equally affect the mechanical structure of the soil

20
 Wastes Migration
In most situations, the envtal. Impact of released wastes would be
minimal if it remains at the point of release; unfortunately, most wastes
migrate from their release points to affect a wider area.
The migration pathways are ;
• Water- groundwater along local hydraulic gradient
• At sea - wastes follow the prevailing winds and currents
• Air emissions – the pollutant will follow the winds
Because migration could be over a wide area, the local conc. And
toxicities at any location will ne reduced by dilution.

21
 Managing Wastes
The most effective way to minimize envtal impact from oil & gas
operations is to develop and implement an effective wastes
management plan.
The waste management plans does the following;
 Identify the materials that could generate wastes at a particular site
 List the best way to manage, treat and dispose of those wastes.
A wastes management plans should include an envtal audit to determine;
 Whether existing activities are in compliance with relevant
regulations

22
 Managing Wastes
Effective management of wastes consists of a hierarchy of preferred
steps, these steps are to;
• Minimize the amount/or toxicity of the waste that must be handle
 This done by maintaining control on chemical inventories
 Changing operations to minimize losses & leaks
 Modifying or replacing equipment to generate less waste
 Changing the processes used to reduce or eliminate the generation
of toxic wastes

23
 Managing Wastes
• Reuse or recycled wastes.
 If the waste contain valuable components, they can be segregated or
separated and/or recovered fro use again.
 Wastes that cannot be reused or recycled must be treated and
disposed
• A written waste management plan that completely describes the
acceptable options for handling every waste generated must be
developed and effectively communicated to everybody involved
with the waste

24
 Waste Treatment Methods
Most wastes require some kind of treatment before been disposed of.
These treatments may include to;
• Reduce the waste’s total volume
• Lessening its toxicity
• Altering its ability to migrate away from its disposal site
There are different treatment methods for different wastes with cost
variation. The waste treatment method selected, however, must comply
with all regulations, regardless of their cost.

25
 Waste Treatment Methods
One of the most important steps in waste treatment is to segregate or
separate waste into their constituents.
• E.g., solid, aqueous and hydrocarbon waste
 This isolates the most toxic component of the waste stream in a
smaller volume
 And allows the less toxic components to be disposed in less costly
ways.
Primary separation occurs with properly selected and operated
equipment. E.g., shale shakers, separation tanks and heater treaters.

26
 Waste Treatment Methods
Separation can be improved by using;
• Hydrocyclones
• Filter presses
• Gas floatation systems
• Decanting centrifuges

27
 Waste Treatment Methods
A number of methods are available for treating hydrocarbon
contaminated solids like;
• Drill cuttings
• Produced solids
 Solids can be washed by agitation in a jet of high velocity water
(with the aid of surfactant)
 Solids can also be mixed with oil-wet material such as coal or
activated carbon.
 This will absorb the H/C and can be separated from the more dense
solids by subsequent flotation

28
 Waste Treatment Methods
An emerging technology for hydrocarbon removal from contaminated
solids is;
• Bioremediation
Other treatment methods include;
 Distillation
 Solvent extraction
 Incineration and;
 Critical/supercritical fluid extraction.

29
 Treatment Methods for Non-hydrocarbon
Wastes
Non-hydrocarbon aqueous wastes can be treated by a number of
methods;
 Ion exchange
 Precipitation
 Reverse osmosis
 Evaporation/distillation
 Biological processes
 Neutralization and;
 Solidification
30
 Waste Disposal Methods – Aqueous wastes
Several methods are available in the industry which depends on;
 Type of wastes
 Composition of wastes
 Regulatory status of the waste
The primary disposal methods for aqueous wastes is to inject them
into class II wells
• If the quality meets or exceed regulatory limits, permits to discharge
it into surface waters may be obtained in some areas.

31
 Waste Disposal Methods – Solid Wastes
The primary disposal methods for solid wastes are to;
 Bury them or
 Spread them over the land surface.
All free liquids normally must be removed prior to disposal, either by
mechanical separation, evaporation or addition of solidifying agents.
• Land treatment of wastes may be prohibited if volatile and leaching
fractions are present.
• Disposal can be on site or offsite
• Underground injection of slurries has also been used for solids
disposal.

32