Bioremediation – Waste Management

Effective techniques for reusing drilling waste

Waste Management Technique

Bioremediation is an efficient and cost-effective waste management technique, facilitating the reuse of by-products that were conventionally considered waste.

The technique works the presence of natural bacteria in the soil and in the digestive systems of larger organisms to the advantage of managers. The bacteria would disintegrate organic compounds into the simplest form. The technique is deployed in the oilfield to remediate hydrocarbons. However, there were technical and economic limitations that made application of the technology in field conditions hard. Synthetic-based drilling fluids were introduced to overcome these hurdles. The fluids generate easily biodegradable cuttings making the technique viable.

Our experts conduct exhaustive tests for toxicity, biodegradation, recyclability and reuse of cuttings in specialized laboratories, greenhouse included. PARALAND paraffin-based drilling fluid system is an outcome of these tests, representing a fully biodegradable and non-toxic alternative to oil-based drilling fluids. The technique has been used effectively in several offshore drilling locations.

In New Zealand, we partnered with a waste disposal facility to use vermiculture for bio remediating hydrocarbons. The byproducts were sold locally as fertilizer resulting in zero waste. Leveraging our expertise, we can also design a full-scale, three-phase bioremediation project, using the byproducts for meeting various environmental objectives.