WATER TREATMENT SERVICES
In 2013, TNRCL commenced operations of the 20,000-bpd Los Bajos Water Treatment Plant (LBWTP) under a design-build-finance-operate agreement with Heritage Petroleum Company Limited (HPCL).
HPCL’s crude oil production operations results in produced water as a waste product stream, which contains oily waste, emulsions and other contaminants, and as such, cannot be directly discharged to the environment without treatment.
The LBWTP is designed with propriety technology, to process to remove, store and transfer free oil. It utilizes Corrugated Plate Intercepters (CPI) and Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) technology to reduce or remove organic and inorganic total suspended solids (TSS). The plant is also equipped with four large unique Aerobic Bioreactor Tanks that use aerobic type bacteria to reduce dissolved emulsions and crude oil to required 15-ppm regulatory standard.
The LBWTP also utilizes membrane ion exchangers to remove inorganic salts, and convert this waste stream to industrial quality water, for use within HPCL’s upstream operations. The Treated water (nominally brine) is discharged via pipeline to sea.
The LBWTP is required to remain operational with minimal downtime, and as such is designed with many redundant systems. This is critical as inadvertent downtime if prolonged, could lead to shutdown of HPCL’s crude oil processing and storage operations, and hence result in significant impacts to HPCL’s operations.
TNRCL has operated the LBWTP plant successfully for the last 13-years without any downtime, whilst maintain its operations and maintenance programs. Third Party laboratory testing of effluents is utilized to confirm compliance to regulatory standards and reporting requirements.
The operational excellence gained is now being expanded to explore entry into desalination projects in partnerships with desalination technology companies.