With the increasing importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, tank cleaning projects have become high profile activities for sustainability.
They represent either significant decarbonization risks or opportunities depending upon how they are handled. A recent project by USA DeBusk illustrates the latter.
USA DeBusk crews provided cleaning and material processing services for an oil storage tank at a terminal facility on the Houston Ship Channel. All residuals (water, solids and oil) were managed by sustainable methods, yielding substantial carbon footprint reductions for the tank owner. USA DeBusk worked with the customer to take the following steps toward sustainability:
Landfill avoidance
Effective processing of material removed from the tank prevented a total of 64 tons of waste from entering a landfill. These eco-friendly outcomes are crucial given dwindling waste disposal capacity worldwide. According to one estimate, the 2,000 active U.S. landfills are reaching their capacity and could run out of room by 2036. Adding new landfills only increases pollution, while accelerating climate change as waste decomposes and releases methane and other greenhouse gas emissions. The most environmentally sound approach is to reduce the amount of waste created.
Recycled oil and purified water
Oil/water separation and processing enabled the facility to reclaim 140 Bbl of oil that met specifications for recycling into the circular economy. This not only returns valuable product to the tank owner, but also eliminates the energy, resources and environmental impact that would be required to produce an equivalent amount of oil.
At the same time, separating and treating liquids from the tank yielded 55,624 gallons of water that could be safely returned to the ecosystem. This avoided the need to dispose of hydrocarbon-contaminated water through less environmentally friendly methods, such as deep well injection.
Waste-to-fuel
Traditionally, the residual, mostly solid waste from a tank would be thermally treated in an incinerator or thermal desorber to eliminate its hydrocarbon content. These techniques require energy, produce carbon emissions, provide no environmentally sustainable benefits and require disposal of remaining solids in a landfill.
Instead, USA DeBusk partnered with the owner to repurpose material from the tank as a waste-derived fuel. This fuel is used to power a cement kiln - typically powered by coal. Waste-derived fuel has a lower carbon footprint and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Kilns using this waste-derived fuel are benzene NESHAP compliant, meet or exceed all EPA air quality standards and deposit no residual ash into landfills.
A total of 21,376 gallons of waste-derived fuel was generated using material from the tank. The fuel displaced 72 tons of coal that would have been required to produce the same amount of energy for the kiln.
Material processing from the tank allowed 397 tons of material to be shipped on a bill of lading under the Commercial Chemical Product Exemption, and be excluded from EPA Annual Waste Summary and state and federal waste taxes. In total, these efforts provided 307 tons of net carbon offset for the tank owner.
Moving forward, tank cleaning providers must be prepared to help customers reach their ESG initiatives.
For more information, visit usadebusk.com or call (844) 243-5557.
