A new way to undertake crude oil storage tank sludge cleaning.

• No more need for man-entry
• No need for loads of equipment
• No need to create a hazardous waste

Using high level technology we have a much more suitable solution to crude oil storage tank sludge cleaning.

Our 3 Stage Process

In order to develop the optimised solution for a client, the oil sludge in the storage tank needs to be analysed.

This can be undertaken by independent laboratories, the client or Cavitation Solutions.

The analysis data enables a bespoke solution to be designed for each individual tank.

The unique nano-fluid compound quantities and mixture are introduced into the crude oil storage tank during normal operations with the inlet crude feed.

This process is undertaken over several weeks, during which the crude oil sludge is broken down to release the hydrocarbon content, which is introduced back into the normal crude oil.

NO MAN ENTRY REQUIRED

The crude oil storage tank is continuously monitored using specialist thermal imaging cameras.

Thermal imaging (also known as infrared imaging) undertakes heat mapping of the inside of the crude oil storage tank from the outside.

Initially the imaging is likely to show many different heat map colours, representing the different fractions inside the tank (crude oil, oil sludge, water, air, etc.).

Thick, oil sludge is highlighted as dark colours throughout the tank.

Over time the sludge is broken down and the tank contents become homogenous, with small percentages of water and sand/solids.

Actual Results

120,000 Barrel Crude Oil tank

BEFORE

AFTER 10 DAYS

These thermal camera pictures show the sludge in the crude oil tank before treatment (dark purple).

The sludge had built up over many years and was a solid mass and immovable.  Even the tank agitators were stuck solid.

After 10 days of treatment, the characterisation of the sludge can clearly be seen to change.  The sludge is completely breaking down into it’s core hydrocarbon components and becoming liquified.

• 120,000 barrel crude oil storage tank
• No man entry
• No downtime
• Injection of nano-fluid via feedstock inlet valves

The nano-fluid is extremely efficient at breaking down and separating out the hydrocarbons in sludge from other elements.

Here we show a treated sample from a 300,000 barrel crude oil storage tank.

The sludge contained a high percentage of sand, which all other companies cannot treat.  Other companies would have to extract this as sludge and dispose of it as hazardous waste material.

Using our solution, the hydrocarbons were recovered from the sludge and the inert sand was also recovered, containing no hydrocarbon contaminants.