Waste Oil Pit Cleaning

W aste Oil Pit Cleaning Waste oil pits consist of waste materials from oil production processes, such as oil drilling and oil exploration. Dumping drilling wastes into pits, either man made or natural were the common disposal techniques used in earlier years. Waste oil pits are usually located near drilling holes to facilitate easy transfer of the drilling mud or crude oil.

In time, the lighter fractions of oil evaporate, but the waste oil pits also accumulate other waste materials, such as chemicals, debris, and other refinery wastes not intended for pit disposal. The pits are usually kept open, so there is always a possibility of overflow due to rains. Overflow leads to the contamination of water bodies, such as lakes and rivers. Even the surrounding land is contaminated. Oil seeps through the sand affecting the ground water.

Waste oil pits not only threaten the environment, but affect animals and human beings as well. There are not many effective waste oil pit cleaning methods available. Some of the drilling company owners try to solve the problem by burning the waste contents or simply covering them with soil. Rather than minimizing the problem, it only aggravates the problem.

Waste oil pit cleaning must be done only after a detailed study of the affected area. Cleaning can be done using in-situ cleaning methods or ex-situ cleaning methods. In-situ cleaning is considered safer than the latter due to the lower environmental damage caused. Inverse emulsification is a type of in-situ cleaning method, where the pit is sprayed with a mix of a biodegradable dispersant, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200 and water. With the use of compressed air and pressure water from fire pumps, the dispersant mixes with the waste oil ultimately dilating the oil. As a result the heavy debris settles at the bottom making it easier to collect the floating oil. The recovered oil is then filtered and used for further production.