Hydrocarbon Tank Cleaning in the 21st Century
Since its inception Veolia’s tank cleaning system has received international recognition, achieving a finalist position at the BP Helios awards in London, England. The Veolia Manway Cannon entry finished in the top 16 out of 1352 entries internationally, which is a truly remarkable result for the Kwinana team.
At present, two tanks have been successfully cleaned out, with a third tank currently in the planning stages. When a crude oil tank is pumped down and taken out of service for inspection and maintenance, it can still contain up to 2.5 metres of valuable, usable sludge which needs to be harvested and processed. There are numerous methods used throughout the world to achieve this, however due to a unique set of circumstances on sit at the Kwinana Refinery, Veolia over recent years has been prevented from operating its site based, built for purpose tank cleaning equipment in the way it was designed to be utilised; as the most effective methods are those that deliver shorter turn around times, cost reductions and also a decrease in man entry for cleaning.
As a result, Veolia has had to revert to operating a manned hydro-dozer to remove the majority of the sludge left in a crude oil tank, which in turn has increased Veolia’s exposure to the risk of injury in addition to increasing tank turn around times. Subsequently an alternative method of non-invasive tank cleaning, the P43 Re-Suspension Nozzle was submitted to BP for consideration; however upon review by BP it was deemed to be unacceptable for use on site.
Around this time of June 2007, Veolia Germany was undertaking their first two tank cleaning projects at the BP Rotterdam Refinery (NEREFCO) in the Netherlands; utilising two distinctly different methods, the Crude Oil Washing System (COWS) and the Manway Cannon System. Whilst both methods are not new technologies, over many years they have continuously been refined and improved by Veolia throughout Europe. The COWS is designed and used for cleaning large diameter (up to 100m) crude oil tanks whilst the Manway Cannon System is designed and used for cleaning smaller diameter (up to 50m) white oil or product tanks.
To witness these methods first hand, BP Refinery Kwinana representatives Adrian Connolly (BP) and Lee MacIntyre (VES), travelled to the Rotterdam Refinery to meet Veolia Germany’s team who were undertaking the work. Upon their return to Australia it was decided that the COWS method was not an option for cleaning the crude oil tanks at the BP Refinery Kwinana. Hence Veolia then set about designing a tank cleaning system that incorporated the Manway Cannons process.
Veolia Environmental Services Australia consulted various other Veolia businesses throughout Europe to attain input and expertise for there future endeavours, culminating in a proposal that blended three methods of non-invasive tank cleaning.
The proposal was submitted to BP in July 2007; following a rigorous approval process, where the in-house Veolia Technical Department and in particular Nyan Naung developed a range of new procedures, P&ID’s, checklists etc to enable the Manway Cannon System to be utilised. It was subsequently agreed to by principle.
Dave Wright, BP Refinery Kwinana Maintenance Superintendent said, “This innovative tank cleaning solution is ideal in that it addresses several major challenges to crude tank cleaning.”
For Veolia Australia’s first tank cleaning attempt using the Manway Cannon System, we enlisted the expertise of Veolia Germany’s Tank Cleaning Project Manager Heinrich Lantzen along with two experienced Manway Cannon Technicians Werner Korschewski and Michael Bensch Genannt Neumann. With over 30 years of non-invasive tank cleaning experience between them they travelled the long journey to Australia to train the VES Australian operators involved.
The first endeavours were trialled in late April 2009 and within two weeks the estimated 1500m³ of residual sludge was reduced by approximately 95%. The result has been remarkable in that not only was the sludge removed in a fraction of the time normally taken, but it has been done for considerably less money as well as less risk to employees.
Brad Hobbs, Tank Cleaning Supervisor for Veolia explained that there are both safety and efficiency advantages to the new cleaning system saying, “Tank 305 was cleaned in two weeks. Without the cannons it would have taken us 4 to 5 months…What is more significant is that we can now clean tanks more safely. We expect to see incidents resulting from man entry into tanks decrease dramatically because we won’t be sending men into tanks full of sludge.”
The success of this project can be primarily attributed to being a true ‘team’ effort. Many thanks must be given to Veolia Environmental Services German team, to Naung for his engineering talents and to the BP Refinery Kwinana, for their complete faith and support during the implementation of this previously untried method of tank cleaning.
For all media related enquiries please contact Renee Fry- National Corporate Affairs Manager on (02)8571 0109
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