Sludge Recovery and Tank Cleaning Services
Libya is a major player in the world oil market and is presently experiencing high levels of investment within the oil industry to comply with the increase in oil production. Maintenance of processing equipment and storage tank facilities are consequently of high priority. Before maintenance can begin, tanks must be emptied for sludge and cleaned.
Libyan Zueitina Terminal asked VAOS Ltd. to clean a crude oil storage tank of 79,000 m capacity, with 5,300 m3 sludge content. VAOS provides tank maintenance, repair services at refineries, oil fields, and tank terminals, and a broad range of construction of oil equipment to the Libyan oil industry.
The Zueitina tank was one of the tanks in need for inspection and maintenance. Before it could be repaired and brought back on-line, it needed a thorough cleaning. This presented VAOS with several challenges: a double floating deck made access a difficult proposition, and the tank's contents of crude oil sludge and hazardous petrochemicals presented risks to VAOS workers.
A fast and safe tank cleaning VAOS cleaned the tank recovering 4,969 m3 of crude oil for Zueitina. Throughout the entire project, no VAOS workers ever had to enter the tank or risk exposure to potentially harmful substances.
Zueitina Terminal saved more than 700,000 USD
VAOS turned the Zueitina tank from an obstacle into a stepping-stone, by making it the first job in which they used the BLABO® system.
The latest Sludge Recovery job VAOS has performed for a Libyan client meant that no less than 22,600 m3 of sludge was recovered, representing a value of several million USD.
Vaos recovered 94% of the oil in Zueitina's tank - representing a savings of more than 700,000 USD. In addition, the job was completed with total environmental safety: normally, oil recovered from a tank cleaning job ends up in desert oil ponds.
Automated cleaning enabled Zueitina to safely recover the oil and transfer it into other tanks. During tank cleaning, it is normal practice to empty the waste oil into the desert, where slop oil ponds are formed, severely damaging the environment.
Reference list of Sludge Recovery jobs Year Customer Tank No Roof type Oil type Sludge recovery 2003 Zueitina 7 Floating Crude 93.9 2003 VEBA 4 Floating Crude 99.1 2004 RASCO St 5 Floating Crude 99.2 2004 VEBA 11 Floating Crude 99.86