Findley, J., Al-Haj, H., Shanaa, J., Al-Duaiji, A., & Economou, S. (2014). A Potential Solution for Waste Management at Remote Sites: Society of Petroleum Engineers.
« Environmentally-friendly solid waste management can present a challenge at small, often temporary, remote sites due to the high cost of waste hauling. A transportable solid waste gasification system was evaluated over a four-month period as a potential solution for waste management at remote drilling and workover sites. The demonstration was conducted at a workover camp in Saudi Arabia in late 2012 and early 2013. The system evaluated was an automated, modular unit capable of thermally gasifying 20-kilogram batches of organic solid waste at temperatures exceeding 600oC. Ordinary camp garbage and kitchen wastes were treated. The system was designed to recycle and burn the syngas generated to sustain the operation. Gaseous emissions are rapidly quenched below 200°C to avoid the formation of dioxins and furans. Following gasification, a small volume of residual solids remain as non-toxic bio-char. This bio-char can potentially be used as a soil additive. Inorganic waste is sterilized, but otherwise unaffected by the gasification process. Preliminary results indicate that a waste volume reduction of more than 95% of the waste processed was achieved. This system is expected to be especially applicable to remote operations or on-board off-shore rigs and marine vessels where costs to transport waste are high ».