A cutting edge tank wash facility with the most efficient tank cleaning process
Alfa Laval was contacted by an integrated oil field service company who was planning to build a new tank wash facility in Texas. The facility would need to handle over ½ million pounds of drilling fluid recovery per day. In addition, the facility was to be a total recovery location, with all waste being processed to an environmentally safe and disposable state. The cleaning process had to be efficient, minimize effluent, and reduce confined space entry to a minimum.
Alfa Laval was provided with drawings of the tanks and trailers which would be cleaned at the facility. Preliminary configurations were developed and the company began developing the remaining facility areas such as the recirculation and filtering tanks, effluent skimmers and reactor. The local Alfa Laval distributor, CleanCut LLC, worked closely with the company and did frequent onsite visits to make sure the headers and supply pumps would properly support the cleaning process. The design was a customized manifold with twin GJ 10 tank cleaning devices, each configured for 60 gpm at 150 psi with a 10-11 minute cycle time, and accommodating a small 8” opening.
In early 2010, the construction of the facility had proceeded to the point where on-site testing could be done. The distributor arranged to bring several of the units on-site for testing and trials. The tank cleaning devices performed beyond expectations. Several weeks later the facility was open for business.
Results
The Alfa Laval tank cleaning devices allowed the frac tank cleaning process to be shortened from 3 hours to 45 minutes and vac trucks from 2-1/2 hours to 22 minutes, both without man entry. The tank cleaning devices also accommodated the re-circulation of the cleaning fluid, either water or diesel. The facility has been in operation for over a year, with no safety or maintenance issues. The bottom line is a cutting edge tank wash facility with the most efficient tank cleaning process made possible by Alfa Laval.
