Waste Drilling Mud Recycling via Demulsification and Thermal Desorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
The disposal of waste drilling muds poses environmental hazards due to the presence of hydrocarbons and saline water, requiring costly and inefficient methods that can lead to pollution, and there is a need for a cost-effective method to recycle diesel and manage hazardous pollutants.
Innovation Solution
A method involving crude separation of solid and liquid phases, followed by demulsification and vaporization of organic phases for combustion, producing reusable oil and clean solid products, with optional vaporization and disposal of aqueous phases to minimize pollution and waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If diesel-based drilling mud is disposed of in special landfills, then environmental hazards are reduced, but disposal costs increase and the possibility of leakage remains
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates the hydrocarbon phase from the drilling mud emulsion through demulsification and separation processes. By removing the hazardous diesel component and recovering it as a reusable product, the method eliminates the need for expensive hazardous waste landfills while preventing environmental contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discarding the diesel-based drilling mud as hazardous waste, the patent recovers the hydrocarbon fraction through separation processes. The recovered diesel can be reused, transforming a waste disposal problem into a resource recovery opportunity and eliminating landfill costs.
2Loss of substance
If steam distillation is used to remove hydrocarbons from solid phase, then complete removal is achieved, but energy consumption increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the approach from high-energy steam distillation to lower-energy separation processes. By using demulsification and phase separation at controlled temperatures and pressures, the method achieves effective hydrocarbon removal from solids without the excessive energy consumption of steam distillation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the thermal-mechanical steam distillation process with a combination of chemical demulsification and physical separation processes. This substitution achieves hydrocarbon removal through phase separation rather than vaporization, significantly reducing energy requirements.
3Loss of substance
If solvent-based methods are used for hydrocarbon separation, then separation is achieved, but hazardous solvents are introduced complicating the problem
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the naturally occurring emulsion structure of the drilling mud into a beneficial separation mechanism. By exploiting the phase separation tendency of oil-water emulsions through demulsification, the method achieves hydrocarbon separation without introducing any hazardous solvents, turning the emulsion's complexity into a separation advantage.
4Loss of substance
If combustion is used to remove liquid hydrocarbon, then hydrocarbon removal is achieved, but very high operating temperatures are required and air pollution is generated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts hydrocarbons from the drilling mud through demulsification and phase separation before any thermal treatment. By removing the bulk of hydrocarbons through separation, any subsequent combustion or thermal treatment operates at much lower temperatures and processes much smaller quantities, eliminating the need for high-temperature combustion facilities.
5Quantity of substance
If saline water is disposed of by storage in lagoon, then volume reduction is achieved through evaporation, but concentrated salt evaporite remains highly damaging to soil and groundwater
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates the aqueous phase containing saline water from the drilling mud emulsion through demulsification. By separating the saline water as a distinct phase, it can be treated independently through evaporation or other methods, preventing the concentration of salts in a lagoon and allowing for more controlled disposal or treatment of the saline fraction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method results in non-hazardous or fully reusable products, effectively recycling drilling muds and diesel, while preventing pollution and reducing disposal costs, by producing clean solid and gaseous products free from pollutants.
Implementation Method 1
demulsifying the bulk emulsion, to form a demulsified hydrophobic phase and a demulsified aqueous phase
Implementation Method 2
vaporizing the residual organic phase from the fraction of drilling mud solids, to create an organic vapor and a first solid product
Implementation Method 3
combusting substantially all of the organic vapor under conditions sufficient to ensure substantially complete combustion, to create a clean gaseous product
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided of recycling and decontaminating oil-based waste drilling mud and cuttings contaminated with oil-based waste drilling mud. A facility for performing the method is also provided. The method includes removing the coarse solids from the mud, breaking the emulsion, and separating the hydrophobic phase from the water phase and the solid phase. The solids may then be treated by either or both of two approaches. One approach involves vaporizing all residual oil and water from the solids, and burning off the vaporized oil. Another approach involves at least partially vaporizing the residual oil from the solids and recondensing the oil. The method produces a solid “soil” product that is free from oil contamination (or is sufficiently decontaminated to allow reuse), an oil product that is fit for reuse, and clean air emissions. A thermal desorber or a soil dryer can be used to efficiently vaporize the oil at low temperature. Optionally the water fraction of the mud can be vaporized, solutes and salts can be captured as evaporite and then be mixed with the soil product. The method has the unique advantage of producing no persistent hazardous waste. The method has the further advantage of requiring no external input of energy if the reclaimed oil is used to provide energy for the process. The method has the further advantage of recycling portions of the drilling mud that would otherwise be subject to disposal.