World’s Largest Greentech system for treating oil production byproducts now underway in UK
In November Envorem MD, Mark Batt-Rawden announced that the company would build the world’s largest greentech system for treating huge volumes of these troublesome materials. The news of this world first was greeted with applause at an international gathering in Saudi Arabia where Mark was a keynote speaker. Now the project is underway in Stoke on Trent, guided by the Envorem team, along with the arrival of a new project engineer, Dan Hallam to supplement the team.
Envorem’s vision is to persuade the oil production and maritime industries to change practices, halting the pollution caused by the disposal of byproducts from oil production. The problem is colossal, of which the Canadian Tar Sands tailings ponds are perhaps the most publicised example, but these byproducts, (typically heavily oil contaminated soil and sludge) are generated wherever there is crude oil production or when heavy oil is used as maritime fuel. Whether cast into pits or incinerated, both disposal routes are bad for the environment.
world’s largest greentech system
The project in Stoke represents the first complete system to be built and will include multiple enhancements, many of which have been developed in collaboration with the University of Brighton and Doctor Anastasios Georgoulas who is a world leader in the analysis and modelling of multiphase-flows with phase-change, heat and mass transfer including cavitation.
The actual system is primarily being assembled by Bartec, a specialist fabricator based in Stoke on Trent and incorporates world-leading oil/water separation technology from Pielkenrood in Holland.
Ben Monkton, Envorem’s chief engineer comments: “The capability and throughput of the system we have created has never been achieved before. We have pushed the boundaries of known technologies into new territory and everything is bespoke.”
Envorem aims to leverage change by providing this greentech alternative that is both less expensive and more environmentally responsible than current methods. Once the Stoke build project is complete, Envorem expects to rapidly commence production scale operations, most likely in the Middle East, eventually rolling out systems to many other countries.
See Envorem Envisions A Fleet Of Clean-Up Plants Initially Operating Across The Middle East
Once operational, the system will process an unparalleled volume of material, up to 100 thousand litres of liquid sludge every hour or 25 tonnes of soil per hour.
Mark Batt-Rawden comments, “It brings the seemingly impossible clean up challenges facing the Oil Industry within reach, both technically and financially. It can also significantly reduce the environmental impact of oil production during the global transition from fossil fuels whilst simultaneously saving costs – a true win-win. For oil producers seeking to improve their ESG profile, using Envorem’s technology contributes to Goals 12,13,14 and 15 of The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”
Just one Envorem system, in comparison to incineration, could save over 575,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says, “About three-quarters of all CO2 captured annually by multi-billion-dollar CCUS facilities, roughly 28 million tonnes (MT) out of 39MT total capture capacity globally, is reinjected and sequestered in oil fields to push more oil out of the ground”. (See Carbon capture remains a risky investment for achieving decarbonisation).
In essence, if we could get the oil production industry to adopt Envorem technology, even on a small scale, just 22 systems operating globally would save more CO2 than all of the world’s non-oilfield carbon capture initiatives combined.
