Hydrocarbon Storage

Onshore and offshore storage of crude oil in tanks, tank batteries, FPSOs, FSOs, tankers, and tank farms is an essential part of production, transmission, and refining operations. Settling of heavier components that separate from crude oil become an oily, tank-bottom sludge of paraffin, asphaltenes, sediment, and water. This sludge can significantly reduce crude oil storage capacity, block tank discharge lines, disrupt operations from accelerated corrosion and tank outages, and generate environmental pollution.

In fact, at refineries, tank-bottom oily sludge is considered hazardous, creating a significant waste management burden that must be dealt with due to ISO-14000 certification and shareholder expectations.

Reduce Risk, Time, and Cost while Recovering Oil and Revenue from Superior Tank Cleaning

Hydrocarbon Dynamics has developed a patented No-Entry Tank Cleaning Process, a six-step protocol that begins with a holistic problem analysis and ends with cleaned storage tanks in less time and more recovered oil than with conventional methods. Innovative PhaseShift Kleen-Flow™ technology for tank cleaning and oil recovery is applied at precise dosages, along with specialized injection equipment, to reduce sludge viscosity and allow rapid and effective separation of the tank sludge into three production streams. All this is done without personnel required to enter the tank.

  • REDUCED SAFETY RISK

    • Personnel not required to enter the tank at any time
    • Easily applied to conventional alternate no-entry tank cleaning systems

  • REDUCED ENVIRONMENT RISK

    • Results achieved with a non-toxic, environmentally safe technology
    • Minimized impact on wastewater treatment plants — hydrophobic nature ensures product will not become part of the wastewater treatment process
    • Minimized waste disposal
    • More effective tank and wastewater disposal due to oleophilic chemical nature

  • INCREASED OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY

    • Reduced tank outages
    • Reduced cleaning and shut-in time, typically by 70% over conventional methods
    • Lower energy costs from utilization of agitation instead of heat
    • Lower maintenance costs

  • INCREASED REVENUE

    • Increased incremental oil recovery, often 30% more than with typical competitor methods for liquefying paraffin and asphaltene sludge
    • Higher quality of incremental oil due to improved tight-emulsion breaking

Kleen-Flow technology liquefies paraffin, asphaltene, and asphaltic-resin sludges by sharing its outer-shell electrons with those of hydrocarbon molecules. This causes a reduction of the natural attraction of like-molecular forces, and the once-agglomerated molecules easily shift phase to become part of the fluid medium. This action also breaks tank-bottom microemulsions, lowers viscosity of crude oils, and typically does all this by using one-to-two gallons of product per metric ton of sludge. Kleen-Flow chemistry is also compatible with diesel, which can be used as a carrier.

In addition to storage vessel treatment, Kleen-Flow technology is also effective at wellheads, battery-sludge pits, and at refinery locations requiring oil and grease concrete-surface cleanup.

Case Study

Offshore Floating, Storage and Offloading (FSO) Vessel Tanks Cleaned with 98% Recovered Oil and Zero “Waste-to-Shore” Disposal with PhaseShift Kleen-Flow™ Technology

South China Sea offshore operator observed high BS&W levels in crude oil kept on a 30-day storage cycle on a permanently moored FSO vessel

Hydrocarbon Dynamics performed storage tank cleaning operations using its patent-pending No-Entry Tank Cleaning Process, including PhaseShift Kleen-Flow chemical technology and specialty equipment

All treatment was administered effectively on the vessel deck to the tanks below

  • PhaseShift Kleen-Flow technology successfully liquefied sludge oil deposits in situ without the need for removal and disposal
  • Approximately 98% of sludge deposits were converted back to ‘on-spec’ crude oil subsequently sold at the highest regional price
  • A zero ‘waste-to-shore’ result was achieved: no sludge oil deposits were shipped to onshore waste disposal facility. Deposits were reliquefied back to crude oil permanently.
  • Increased revenue from recovered oil
  • Reduced safety, environmental and economic risk from using PhaseShift Kleen-Flow environmentally safe, non-toxic chemistry, and from zero “waste-to-shore” results eliminating onshore disposal costs
  • Increased operational efficiency

PhaseShift Brochure

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