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Evaluation of Road Base Material Derived from Tank Bottom Sludges
The U.S. petroleum industry annually produces large quantities of storage tank sludges. These wastes consist of sediments, water, and oil emulsions, which are periodically pumped or drained from the bottom of storage tanks containing crude oil, intermediate product, or refined product. The focus of this study will be to determine the general quality of road base material that can be made using crude oil tank bottom sludges. Sludge samples will be collected from ten production tank batteries operating in different formation, across the state of Oklahoma. The investigation will be conducted with the intent that the road base material will be used primarily on secondary roads or other low volume roads. Initial studies will be concerned with characterizing the properties of the tank bottoms in terms of those normally used when characterizing asphalt emulsions. Additionally, the tank bottoms will be subjected to environmental analysis (i.e. TCLP) to characterize the potential for release of hazardous compounds from the finished asphalt road base.
Sponsor:
Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium
Engineering Energy Laboratory
In addition to involvement in energy research, the Engineering Energy Laboratory organized and conducted the annual Frontiers of Power Conference and the Energy Information Dissemination Program for the sponsoring utilities. Specific research modeling and analysis of renewable energy sources and systems, utility impacts of distributed generation, and development of knowledge-based tools for the design of Integrated Renewable Energy Systems (IRES).
Sponsors:
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, Public Service Company of Oklahoma,
and Empire District Electric Company