Recovery of crude from OVL in joint operations, Wafra, Kuwait

Weathered crude oils stored in open and unlined pits pose several environmental, safety, and health issues to the flora, fauna, and human population. The weathered crude oil could leach through the cracks and fissures in the ground surface contaminating the groundwater contribute to a higher concentration of VOCs and hazardous gases such as H2S in the atmosphere and render the soil unusable due to high concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons. Processing and recovery of clean oil is possible through the use of complex technologies involving the use of mechanical equipment, chemicals, and heat. By processing and recovering clean oil from weathered crude, it can be seen that the dangers of pollution posed to groundwater, atmosphere, and the soil can be greatly reduced and removed. In addition to reducing the dangers to the environment, substantial revenues are also being generated which keeps the clean-up process self-sustaining. The author describes the successful recovery of 905,900 barrels from large waste oil pit that was estimated to contain approximately 1,000,000 barrels of oily viscous liquid (OVL) of which approximately 600,000 barrels were estimated recoverable crude. The process not only recovered 50% more than estimated recovery, yet this has helped to remediate and mitigate negative environmental impact and generated revenues for WJO. Between June 2011 and July 2014, the footprint of that pit was reduced by approximately 60% due to the cleanup efforts.