Product category:
Plant Inspection and Cleaning
News Release from: Spraying Systems | Subject: UltraClean Georgia story
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 23 June 2006
Tank cleaner unit cost recovered on
first job
A Spraying Systems automatic tank washing unit, purchased by a leading oilfield service company, paid for itself on its first job - cleaning a separator vessel following drilling operations in Georgia
A Spraying Systems portable automatic tank washing unit, purchased by the Drilling and Well Services (DWS) division of leading oilfield service company Weatherford International, has paid for itself on its first job - cleaning a separator vessel following drilling operations at a site in the former Soviet republic of Georgia The normal Weatherford practice is to clean a separator on site, to reduce weight, before it is shipped back to the UK
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 24 Dec 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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But in the past this has involved the considerable cost of a specialised sub-contractor team working inside the vessel with high-pressure wash guns.
The question arose as to whether Weatherford could clean the separator cost-effectively themselves? The task is to clean out residues deposited in the vessel by the stream of crude oil, water and cuttings (solid material) during drilling.
Cleaning from inside is unpleasant work.
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It is also potentially hazardous.
Anyone working beyond the immediate area of the entry hatch has to climb over transverse dividing weirs to move around or exit.
Hugh Mackenzie, Aberdeen-based engineer for 'Underbalanced Drilling' projects at Weatherford, investigated the possibilities, and found that initial costs of equipment and training in safe-entry techniques would be in the region of GBP12,000-15,000.
But for less than one-sixth of that cost he found a better solution - automatic cleaning, with no requirement for special training or men working inside the separator.
The UltraClean machine supplied by spray technology specialists Spraying Systems is one of the company's wide range of automatic cleaning devices for storage tanks, road tankers and other vessels.
The version chosen is capable of cleaning tanks of up to 43 metres diameter, depending on liquid pressure.
Its spray head carries twin solid-stream nozzles rotating in one plane while the head rotates in another, giving progressive 360 degree high-impact cleaning of all internal tank surfaces.
No motor is needed as rotation is powered by the inlet stream, spinning a built-in turbine which in turn drives a gear set.
Out in Georgia, drilling operations in chalky clay had produced a massive build up of hardening sticky deposits, as much as 250mm deep, inside the separator.
The UltraClean unit was mounted on the end of a flanged inlet pipe, so that it could be inserted through 152mm diameter ports in the top of the separator, bolted in working position and connected to the nearest convenient oil rig pump.
Weatherford ran a 30-minute cleaning cycle in each section, shifting deposits so that they could be evacuated from the bottom of the vessel by suction pump.
Two tons lighter, the separator was ready for shipping back to the UK, along with the UltraClean unit.
At Great Yarmouth, where all the Weatherford UK based separators are now serviced (following the group's acquisition of Precision Drilling Services) operations manager Roy McIntosh had made provision for a contractor to inspect the vessel and do what further cleaning was needed.
Inspection was enough.
The automatic machine had done its job and the separator was perfectly clean.
Weatherford are now looking to use the UltraClean unit for other separators and storage vessels, saving GBP2000 - 3000 on outside contractor charges every time a vessel has to be cleaned.
Spraying Systems offer a free 50-page 'Guide to Safe and Effective Tank Cleaning' to offer further advice.
Copies and technical assistance on specific projects is available from the Spraying Systems UK office.
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