Subsea Savings

Hunting Review 190 Summer 2016

Business at the Subsea division has increased markedly in recent years, necessitating a new approach to managing waste streams

When Jim Cox joined the division in Stafford, Texas as HSE Manager in February 2015, Hunting was on the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) list of high quantity generators of hazardous chemicals. Jim, with Subsea’s Management Team, employed a multi-phased approach to both reduce waste streams, including inherent risks in the disposal process, and to become an even more environmentally accountable organisation.

CASE STUDY ONE: WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

First, Jim established a new procedure for the control of incoming chemicals and worked with the Engineering, Sales and Operations teams to fully understand the necessity of each chemical in the facility and to reduce volumes where possible. This led to the removal of Hunting from the TCEQ high quantity generator list. Next, all other waste streams were reviewed with simple goals in mind - to reduce the risk and costs associated with the responsibilities of waste disposal. In some cases, Hunting’s waste crossed as many as four state lines bound for various disposal sites utilised by its waste transport contractors, increasing costs and liability risk. As an alternative, Jim began to look into onsite wastewater evaporator systems to minimise these undesired outcomes.

This research led to the industry leader in evaporator technology, US based Samsco. In addition to Samsco providing the company with local references for evaluation, it was imperative that Hunting’s waste stream management was safe and compatible with the selected evaporator. Waste samples were then sent to Samsco for analysis; and within a week a report verified compatibility with the Samsco
Water Evaporator II system. This model also provides necessary capacity to accommodate future growth in production and the subsequent increase in waste streams. Once the unit was installed and operational, the air quality was independently tested to EPA Method TO- 15. The results were extremely positive and significantly below permissible volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions levels. As a result, there was no requirement for a permit from the TCEQ.

Liquid waste streams at the Stafford facility have been reduced to a small fraction of previous volumes, reducing the risks associated with transportation and disposal while decreasing disposal costs by more than 90 per cent. The evaporator unit will have a payback of much less than one year. The solution is simple to operate, reduces the environmental impact and provides a significant annualised cost saving.

The evaporator unit will have a
payback of much less than one year