Rapid industrialization and urbanization has spurred the demand for oil globally. As a result, almost 40,000 oil-fields have come into existence globally. An oil field is a region with numerous oil wells bored. Oil extracted from numerous oil wells is refined further to obtain various petrochemical products. The area over which these oil wells extend may be several hundred kilometers.
Some exploratory wells are also situated along the boundary line of such oil-fields, through which pipelines may pass in order to transport the extracted oil to far locations and for providing additional facilities like oil field waste disposal. Though oil or crude oil is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon compound, its refining process is very similar to any other industrial process.
Oil-Fields: An Overview
Oil-field is not just a collection of oil wells; it is a small habitat, a city in itself. All the byproducts produced during refining process are not useful. A typical practice has been to dump the waste products to some far off land fill, a practice that is environmentally hazardous. This necessitates oil field waste disposal programs and procedures. Informational efforts educated businesses about oil fields, waste products generated and their types.
Every oil reserve has several layers of naturally occurring water and hydrocarbons. Its segregation requires large amounts of seawater to be poured in so as to effectively separate them. This contaminates underground water. This is just one problem besides others like refinery waste management, cleaning the oil-tanks and response in the event of a spill.
These initiatives primarily aim to raise awareness regarding oil field waste disposal in addition to providing services to manage them. Waste Handling Procedures, Acceptable wastes and unaccepted wastes; every classification of oil field byproducts and how to manage them must be with every enterprise before they venture into working with this mineral resource. This prevents mishandling of harmful and sometimes even lethal by products from oil fields, thus ensuring a safer and vastly more sustainable industry model.
Help at Hand
Several government and private agencies worldwide help the smaller ventures deal with their waste disposal needs. These typically provide trucking services and facilities to set up landfills or composting sites. While they do charge a fee, it is a small price to pay when it comes to the health of Mother Nature. Oilfields often are responsible for several harmful incidences of Crude Oil Spills, Salt water Spills, Invert Drilling Mud, Fresh Water drilling mud, Hydrocarbon Impacted soils and Saltwater impacted soils due to negligence and improper handling of the wastes. Oil field waste disposal is a sensitive issue and needs to be treated with enough regard and concern.
Special trained professionals should be hired who know exactly what to do with the different types of wastes generated. If proper planning is done the wastes may even prove to be of value since many different fertilizers and other such chemicals can be synthesized from them. Sustainable development of our oil fields is necessary both to ensure our life on earth, and also to make sure that our planet is not impacted by its ill effects.
More about http://oilfieldwastedisposal.com/ We primarily aims to raise awareness regarding oil field waste disposal in addition to providing services to manage them. Waste Handling Procedures, Acceptable wastes, Unaccepted wastes to list a few are essential for understanding the oil-field waste disposal methods.
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