Environmental BioTechnologies, Inc.

Biotreatment of Oily Coproduced Sand

Production of crude oil from some reservoirs results in significant amounts of coproduced sand. This sand, once separated from the crude oil, still contains between 1% to 5% crude oil thus limiting disposal options and increasing costs for those disposal processes suitable for this hazardous waste.

Environmental BioTechnologies, Inc. has developed a treatment process that can economically treat these oily sands and produce a treated product which has less than 2,000 ppm total petroleum hydrocarbons. The process involves three distinct treatment stages. In the first stage, the oily sand is collected and transported to a holding tank where sand, water and oil are allowed to gravity separate. Sand from the separation tank is washed with hot water to remove 75% of the crude oil, reducing the TPH concentration to the 10,000 ppm range. A third stage process involves biopolishing to reduce the TPH levels to below 2,000 ppm to meet regulatory standards.

The key to this treatment process is the biological polishing that reduces TPH concentrations to below 2,000 ppm thereby allowing the sand to be classified as a non hazardous waste or byproduct which can be used. TPH levels drop rapidly over the first 28 days of treatment as shown in the graph.

Due to the costs associated with hauling oily sands, the most economical application of the treatment technology is to construct treatment facilities in areas of oily sand production. EBT and ERIN Consulting can help you review this technology application, conduct technical feasibility studies on your oily wastes, design the treatment facility and provide you with the required services and technology licenses for operating this treatment process.

 

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Environmental BioTechnologies, Inc.
255C S. Guild Ave.
Lodi, CA 95240
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