Success Stories

Case Studies & Success Stories

Upgradation of an old CPI unit to meet today’s waste water discharge requirements

story-2-2Background

Upgradation of an old CPI unit to meet today’s waste water discharge requirements

Challenge

The client was facing and issue concerning their oil/water separators. The plates were closely stacked and positioned horizontally, instead of inclined. The waste water to be treated was not supposed to contain suspended solids, only hydrocarbons. In practice however the oily waste water did contain suspended solids with TSS concentrations ranging from 50 to 150 mg/l. Solids settled in the corrugations troughs, but because the plates were not inclined transport of solids out of the plate packs did not happen. Because the separator discharged off-spec treated water directly to a nearby river, the client needed to improve the separator’s performance.

Our Solution

The separators were upgraded with inlet flow distribution, installation of three new Cross Flow plate packs, installation of sludge collection troughs underneath the plate packs, installation of new adjustable oil skim weirs, installation of new adjustable effluent overflow weirs and installation of an online sludge removal system. During the upgrade work the oily waste water stream was treated in our rental separator.

Outcome

Since the commissioning of the upgraded separator, the client performs sludge draw-off at regular intervals of a month. Treatment results remain consistent so that it can be concluded that up to now there is no fouling of the plate packs. The separator’s performance is given in the below table:

Flow rate Oil density Solids density Water density Water dynamic viscosity Oil droplets intercepted Solids intercepted
m3/h kg/m3 kg/m3 kg/m3 cP µm µm
100 750 2000 1000 1.002 (20ºC) ≥ 21 100% ≥ 11
100 850 2000 1000 1.002 (20ºC) ≥ 27 100% ≥ 11
100 900 2000 1000 1.002 (20ºC) ≥ 33 100% ≥ 11
125 750 2000 1000 1.002 (20ºC) ≥ 23 100% ≥ 21
125 850 2000 1000 1.002 (20ºC) ≥ 30 100% ≥ 21
125 900 2000 1000 1.002 (20ºC) ≥ 37 100% ≥ 21

Cross flow technology (CFI) solution to meet waste water discharge requirements

story-4-2Background

The client is a Dutch company that stores and handles various oil and natural gas-related products. The terminal is situated in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Challenge

The terminal has an existing TPI separator which has a serious plate pack clogging problems due to high inlet TSS concentrations. As per existing design, the TPI separator had an unusual depth. Because of this, the sludge holding capacity underneath the plate packs for each bay is a prodigious 7 m³. Under these conditions, it may take months for the sludge layer to reach the bottom of the plate packs.

Our Solution

It would be more expedient and cheaper to build one or two above grade Cross Flow separators and to use the TPI basin as storm water buffer. As a first step to upgrade the treatment facilities the drain system was modified in the sense that contaminated waste water and storm water run-off were segregated. It was further determined that two storm water run-off CFI oil/water separators were required with a combined design capacity of 140 m³/h. This was considered to be the maximum first flush. For the treatment of contaminated waste water a CFI oil/water separator with a design capacity of 20 m³/h was to be installed. Upgrade works were completed in early 2014.

Outcome

As of time of writing, all three CFI separators have been operating without shutdown for cleaning.

Desalination Plant solution for Onshore Gas Terminal, Turkmenistan (360,000 litre/day)

Background las4

Client is Fortune 500 companies which is the first Oil Exploration Company signing Production Sharing Agreement with Turkmenistan Government. This agreement paves the way for development of Oil & Gas industry in Turkmenistan in global scale.

Challenge

With water scarcity at under-develop part of Central Asia, Client has turn to MEC to provide reliable & sustainable solution to back up their operational requirement in large scale.

Our Solution

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A 360,000 l/d Sea Water Reverse Osmosis desalination plant is installed which incorporates the latest in membrane, pumping, and process control technology which produces high quality drinking water with minimal energy consumption and environmental impact. Also included in the package is a 24×7 Remote Integrated System Monitoring to ensure optimised plant performance and extended asset life. This is to ensure maintenance costs are kept at a minimum.

Outcome

The plant is functioning well at the time of writing.