AZURE-B
NORM Sand Decontamination
Oilfield operations in desert locations have historically used waste pits or depressions in the sand for the discharge of waste fluids from oilfield exploration and production operations. Apart from hydrocarbons, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) has precipitated from produced water onto sand particles as radioactive mineral scales such as Ra-226 sulphate. Operators and governments now see these as an unacceptable scar on the landscape and wish to decontaminate these areas and return the desert to its former pristine state. Decontamination requires the removal of aged hydrocarbons and NORM from the sand. Patent WO 2022/262292A1 GB2209314.0
Vast lakes of oil and discharged produced water in North Africa resulting from oilfield operations and the Bluesky process by which the sand can be cleaned and the environment returned to its pristine natural state.
Process diagram for the decontamination of hydrocarbon and NORM-Contaminated sand