Drilling Waste in Quebec
Case Study
Challenge
Driller for major gas distributor requires cost effective solution for disposing of drilling waste in Quebec near Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. The drill site was in an urban setting with high traffic volume. Drill spoils waste was too liquid and would not be accepted by local disposal site. The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change requires treatment of liquid drilling waste in Quebec as liquid industrial waste. With only small sumps on site and nearly 1,000m3 of waste, a quick and cost effective disposal option was needed.
Solution
After assessing several solutions, solidification on site using MetaFLO’s MF006 mechanical solidification reagent was chosen. The plan was to solidify the drilling fluids on site to achieve the required solids criteria. After solidification, our client would be able to ship the waste using dump trucks for disposal at the nearby solids disposal facility. Shipping and disposal of the liquid drill waste would have been more costly, meant greater risk and had a greater environmental footprint.
Result
The solidification process was a success. All of the mud was solidified quickly and accepted by the solids waste receiver. Cost was reduced due to the lower cost of dump trucks and solids disposal. Additionally, solids allow for larger volume per truck reducing the project’s carbon footprint and safety risks.
Owner: Vale Canada Ltd.
Contractor: Tervita Corp.
Distributor: Di-Corp
Vale owns and operates a mining site in Northern Ontario, Canada. Through their mining and refining activities they produce a sludge waste by-product. The clients were in need of an efficient excavation and transportation solution to get this sludge to their off-site landfill.
End of September 2018 - Mid October 2018
During the bidding process, MetaFLO was engaged to provide an optimal blend and dosage rate to achieve the solids criteria required for excavation and transportation of the sludge. Using analytical data, MetaFLO estimated a dosage rate of 1.1% by weight (based on a high moisture content). Large mixing bins were recommended for increased surface contact and efficiency during the bucket mixing process. No sample was available at this time.
Tervita Corporation utilized MetaFLO reagent to solidify approximately 4,000 m3 of sludge. Two 35m3 bins were staged on site and were loaded with a composite of “heavier” and “lighter” sludges. The originally estimated dosage rate was accurate as actual treatment averaged approximately 30lbs of MetaFLO MF006 reagent per m3 of sludge. All material was safely shipped to Vale’s off-site landfill. The job was completed on time.