Drilling mud management:
Transforming waste into new resources
What does this technique consist of?
Thermal desorption is a process in which drilling cuttings are heated (with initial concentrations of hydrocarbons between 5-50%) until reaching temperatures between 95 and 500°C, allowing evaporation and condensation of water and hydrocarbon. This enables us to obtain a dry solid material (ash) with a lower hydrocarbon content.
Benefits of this initiative
The advantages of using the thermal desorption technique are:
Reusing water and fuel
Consume less virgin raw materials by reusing the water and fuel extracted from waste treatment.
Creating less waste
Reducing the amount of final waste therefore reduces the environmental footprint.
Avoiding transportation
Manage our waste at our own facilities without having to transport it, thus avoiding the environmental impact associated with transportation.
Drilling mud management in figures
21,500
tonnesof waste treated since 2016 by thermal desorption.
2,360
m3
of recovered diesel that has been reused in our operations.
Classification by key lines and value chain
Our circular economy projects are aligned with the key lines of our strategy and are present throughout our entire value chain, from obtaining raw materials to commercializing products and services.
Find out more about our circular economy projects
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