Treatment of NORM-Contaminated Sludge

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• Treatment of NORM-Contaminated Sludge Soil
• from the Petroleum Industry
• PDO NORM Workshop
• February 21-23, 2005

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Proxima Cancorp Petrozyme TechnologiesEnviroGem
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Contents

• Introduction
• Approach to the treatment of hydrocarbon
• NORM contamination
• Treatment of hydrocarbon contaminants Stage 1
• Treatment of NORM
• Stage 2 Solubilization
• Stage 3 Filtration
• Stage 4 Polymerization
• Treatment objectives
• Proposed pilot full scale implementation
• Conclusion

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Dr. Ajay Singh

• Director of RD, Petrozyme Technologies
• Adjunct Professor University of Waterloo
• Specialization - microbial biotechnology
• Published in excess of 120 research papers
• Holds 5 patents
• Co-authored and edited 5 books related to
  biotechnology, fermentations, bioremediation and
  phytoremediation
• Developed biological waste treatment processes
  related to the petroleum industry
• International experience (US, Canada, India,
  Germany, Japan, Venezuela, Mexico, Saudi Arabia)

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Dr. Perichiyappan Senthilnathan

• Technical Director of EnviroGem Inc.
• Consulting advisor to various industries for
  water and wastewater treatment including
  Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson Johnson, Pfizer,
  Merck, Uniroyal, Exxon and Cargill
• Dr. Senthil is the expert in waste water
  treatment and has isolated and removed metals
  radionuclides from water using selected membrane
  filters
• 30 years in waste water treatment

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Peter Cheong

• Principal, Proxima Cancorp Inc.
• Director Founder of Petrozyme Asia Ltd.
  currently actively bidding on all major petroleum
  sludge/contaminated soil remediation jobs in Asia
  Middle East
• Chartered Accountant PwC, EW
• Assembled a team of scientists to provide a
  solution for NORM
• Role project cost management

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Treatment Rationale

• Had to look out of the box for a more cost
  effective solution
• The risk of NORM comes from small particles of
  radioactive metals
• Treat the cause not the symptom
• Solution had to isolate the NORM and then manage
  along with other metals

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Treatment Process

• An advanced four-stage integrated
  bio-physico-chemical process to treat
  NORM-contaminated oily sludge soil from the
  petroleum industry
• Each of the stages in this process has been field
  proven

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Four-Stage Process Flow
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Stage 1 Removal of hydrocarbons

• biological process for oily sludges
• physico-chemical process for hydrocarbon-contamina
  ted soils
• bioreactors and mixers will provide added
  shielding from NORM for the operators
• water is an integral part of both these processes

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Stage 1 oily sludges

• subjected to bio-treatment in a slurry bioreactor
  using the patented Petrozyme Process
• microorganisms, a blend of proprietary nutrients
  and optimized air flow facilitate accelerated
  biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons
• result is a gt90 TPH removal in 8 to 12 days.

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Example of Bioreactors
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Stage 1 contaminated soils

• for low oil-contaminated soils (lt8 TPH),
  Remsep is used
• patented 2-phase remediation separation process
  
• hydrocarbons are separated using hydrophobic
  sorbents mobilizing agents in mixers
• removal of gt90 of TPH in treatment periods of 4
  to 6 hours.

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Stage 1 Remsep
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Stage 2 - Solubilization

• solubilization done in tanks
• process proven on uranium, radium, thorium
  strontium
• proprietary list of reagents containing selected
  ligands are used to solubilize radioactive
  inorganic elements
• challenge is to ensure no reaction among reagents
• treated sludge/soil is dewatered solids are
  sent to a suitable landfill

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Stage 3 - Filtration

• filtrate containing radioactive elements metals
  from stage 2 are subjected to a series of
  ultrafiltration, nano/diafiltration a
  high-pressure high-rejection reverse osmosis (RO)
  system
• proven on uranium, radium, thorium xanthium
• residues from nano/diafiltration RO systems
  containing concentrated radioactive
  high-molecular weight elements metals are
  collected in residue storage tanks
• Permeate from RO unit free of radioactive
  elements is either discharged to local
  sewer/water bodies or re-used in the upstream
  processes

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Stage 4 Polymerization containment

• contents of residue storage tank are water
  reduced
• polymerize residues
• polymers are stable indefinitely
• material is contained within non-reactive Uranium
  containers or metal drums sealed
• ultimate disposal in secured landfills

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Stabilization/Containment Solutions

• Superior qualities in
• Shielding operators
• Isolating radionuclides
• No structural damage from radiation (gamma)
• Retaining radio isotopes
• No biodegradation
• No leaching issues
• Significant reduction in final landfill cost
• Process cost US1,200 to 1,500 per ton plus
  landfill cost of NORM free solid material from
  the Petrozyme/Remsep Processes
• Based on 10k m3 of sludge/contaminated soil

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Treatment Objectives

• meet the actionable level set by the
  International Atomic Energy Agency
• isotopic activity in treated solids effluent
  not to exceed 0.5 Bq/g for Ra226
• show process has successfully isolated
  radionuclides and retained radio isotopes
• based on standards set by US EPA, Department of
  Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Council

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Proposed pilot

• demonstrate that petroleum hydrocarbons can be
  effectively degraded or removed from sludges
  contaminated soils
• NORM present in sludges soils can be
  effectively treated/stabilized using our approach
• approach is scalable
• length cost of pilot

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Full Scale Implementation

• JV with local company
• Oil co options
• We supply all equipment
• Except for Bioreactors NORM related equipment,
  Oil co supplies some or all equipment (Capex)

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Conclusion

• Process addresses, isolates
• treats hazardous materials
• (toxic organic compounds, metals
  radionuclides)
• Technically advanced
• User friendly
• Efficient
• Cost effective
• No legacy issues