NORMs Contamination Treatment Using Ivey-sol Technology Brochure

OIL & GAS Product NewsOIL & GAS Product NewsOIL & GAS Product NewsOIL & GAS Product NewsOIL & GAS Product News September/October 2004September/October 2004September/October 2004September/October 2004September/October 200433333Member ofCCAB Inc.September/October 2004Volume 8, Number 5Published by Baum Publications Ltd.201 - 2323 Boundary RoadVancouver, BC V5M 4V8Tel: 604-291-9900 • Fax: 604-291-1906www.baumpub.comMemberof CBPPrinted in Canada, on recycled paper,by Mitchell Press Ltd.made by manufacturers and/or distributorsfor products or services.The views andopinions expressed are those of the authorsand not necessarily those of Oil & GasProduct News.Copyright 2004, Baum Publications Ltd. Noportion of this publication may be reproducedwithout permission of the publishers.ISSN 1482-468X, Publications Mail AgreementNo. 40069270Oil & Gas Product News is published sixtimes yearly: January/February, March/April,May/June, July/August, September/October,and November/December. 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Baum .................................. ebaum@baumpub.comMemberof AEMNORMs (naturally occurringradioactive materials) are foundalmost everywhere, and manynatural materials, such as the earth’s crust,contain such radioactive materials.So what happens when oil and gasactivities such as petroleum refining andnatural gas extraction, disturb suchradioactive material? They can alter thenatural background radiation — the radiationthat we are naturally exposed to on a day today basis — causing radioactive waste to bebrought to the earth’s surface.Usually, the background level inWestern Canada and the United States isin the neighbourhood of 60-80 CPM(counts per minute). While radioactivity inoil and gas production and processingequipment is of natural origin, estimatessuggest that up to 30 percent of domesticoil and gas wells may produce someelevated TENORM (TechnologicallyEnhanced Naturally Occurring RadioactiveMaterial) contamination.It is believed that the enhancedtechnology being employed in today’s oiland gas industry is, in part, responsible inthe rise of NORMs contamination. Whenidentifying NORM contamination, anyconsistent reading at or over doublebackground is considered a NORMcontaminate.Once at the surface, NORM contaminantspresent many challenges to oil and gas com-panies. Since the radioactive waste can ac-cumulate on drilling and processingequipment, NORMs-contaminated equip-ment can have a significant impact on main-tenance and inspection.Companies must also ensure there is norisk to workers and must employ radiationexperts to ensure proper handling anddisposal of NORMs. Presently there areonly guidelines and regulations that pertainto the disposal of these contaminates. Theguideline states that a contamination levelof 70 KBq/Kg (or Litre) may be transportedoff site to disposal. Since NORMs waste isconsidered a HazMat, the cost of disposingthe contaminated sludge is in excess of$250/ton.NORMs contamination treatment usingIvey-sol technologySolutionGeorge Ivey, founder and CEO of IveyInternational Inc., recently teamed up withTerry Timothy, manager of EnvironmentalServices for Key Safety Services Inc., totest his Ivey-sol technology on NORMs-contaminated equipment. Key Safetyincorporates the Ivey-sol technology intheir remediation process.The Ivey-sol technology is based onthe encapsulation of the radioactivecontaminants. One end of the molecule fromthe Ivey-sol mixture is attracted to thetarget contaminant or the radioactivecompound. Once enough of these targetcontaminants are attached to the Ivey-solmixture, they are basically “pulled” into thesolution and made soluble. “Thetechnology can be used on any type ofsolid material, such as filters, pipelines,sludge, soils, even clothing,” says Ivey.“We tested it on a piece of pipeline thatwas over 20,000 becquerels and safelybrought it down to below 200 becquerel.”Ivey-sol technology has a provenability to decontaminate radioactivecontaminated materials regardless ofcontamination type or level, to levelsappropriate for handling and ortransportation in accordance with nationaland/or international guidelines.“The solution used at the correctpercentage in conjunction with the propertemperature and application system is veryeffective,” explains Timothy. “We havebeen able to take contaminated inlet filtersboth fibre and aluminum and paper-combination types and treat them withstarting counts per minute of 580 CPM andcleaned them to background, which is100% clean.”AdvantageA huge advantage of the Ivey-soltechnology is the ability to decontaminateNORMs-contaminated equipment on-site.Costly plant shutdowns can occur whileequipment is being decontaminated, andsome equipment such as filters or PIGS mustbe sent away for cleaning and disposal.“There are a number of items such as valvesand piping that are stored in isolated boneyards awaiting a proactive way of dealingwith them, we believe our system is goingto help bring a proactive solution,” saysTimothy.“There’s obviously a lot of benefits tobeing able to perform an on-site treatment,versus a company shutting down theirsystem, packaging their contaminatedequipment, transporting it to a NORMsdisposal facility to have it decontaminatedand then shipping it back,” says Ivey. “Wecan take contaminated sludge, soil, filtersand sections of pipelines and literally treatthem on-site from start to finish in as littleas 15 to 20 minutes in some cases. So thetechnology is relatively fast.”To the marketplaceAt present, there is enough information toshow there has been a continual growth inNORMs contamination. We do know thatthe technology in today’s oil and gasindustry is, to some degree, responsiblefor the contaminants that we are seeingpresent day.“There’s an element of concern amongmajor oil companies; they want to resolvethe NORMs issue so that it is safe fortheir staff,” says Ivey. “But there doesn’tappear to be too many technologies thatI’m aware of, other than the Ivey-sol, thathas the ability to successfullydecontaminate NORMs contaminatedwaste to a safe handling and disposallevel.”With the oil and gas industry its targetclient, Ivey adds: “We have a technologythat works, and we want to bring it to themarketplace and see what we can do.”Ivey International Inc.MORE INFO? Enter #5005 on Reader Reply CardEditorial FeatureEditorial FeatureThe concentrations that precipitate out in sludges and as scale on internal services of oil and gasproduction and processing equipment may vary in thickness from a few millimetres to more thanan inch.