it contains the ways in which petroleum waste gets transported and how this can be prevented to cause less harm to the environment

1. ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORTATION
OF PETROLEUM WASTE
( THROUGH SURFACE, SUBSURFACE
AND ATMOSPHERIC PATH ).

2. INTRODUCTION
Environmental transportation of petroleum wastes
refers to the natural movement of the disposed or
treated wastes from the disposed location to a larger
area by various pathways causing adverse effects to the
environment as well as the living beings.
The exploration and extraction processes of oil and gas
industries produce waste materials; disposal of which if
not regulated, will result in environmental pollution
leading to radiation exposure to humans, animals and
plants. These effects would be minimal if the wastes
remained at their points of release. But these wastes
migrate away from a release point by a number of
pathways which include the surface of the earth or
water body, subsurface pores, and the air.

3. What is petroleum waste?
The exploration and extraction of oil and gas processes produce waste
materials such as :
 used drilling fluids and drilling cuttings , complex mixtures of clays
and chemicals and produced water.
 Hydrocarbon wastes including API separator sludge, contaminants
accumulated in desalter bottoms and waste oils/solvents etc.
 Spent catalysts which includes fluid cracking catalyst, hydro-
processing catalyst etc.
 Chemical/inorganic wastes which includes spent acids and waste
amines.
 Contaminated soils which includes waste coke/carbon/charcoal,
waste sulphur etc.
 Aqueous waste which includes oil contaminated water (not
wastewater), high/low pH water and spent sulphide solutions.

4. WASTE DISPOSAL
The upstream industry produces a large amount of waste,
primarily, produced water and drill cuttings. Irrespective of
the effectiveness of the waste management plan, there
remains a quantity of waste that needs to be disposed off
on-site or shipped and disposed off-site.
• Surface disposal:
One of the most common and easiest way of waste
disposal is to dispose them onto the ground or surface of
water. Treated wastewater is disposed off directly into local
streams, rivers etc.
Offshore solid treated wastes are disposed on-site
whereas oil based wastes which are prohibited are
transported to the shore for disposal.

5. Onshore treated solid wastes are disposed off by
spreading them over land surfaces or used in land
treatment: land spreading and land farming or
used in road spreading
• Subsurface disposal:
It is one of the most widely used disposal methods
of the industry.
Liquid wastes are usually injected into deep
surface formation through injection wells (disposal
wells or annular injection in existing wells).
solid wastes such as drill cuttings after the
removal of free liquids are buried in the subsurface
on-site.

6. Paths for environmental
transportation of waste
Surface
path
Subsurface
path
Atmospheric
path

7. SURFACE PATH
Surface pathways of transport are those where the
released material travels along either the soil or open
water surface.
Surface transport of petroleum wastes on land
primarily occurs when high volumes of liquid wastes are
discharged onto the ground. These liquids then flow until
they either mix with existing surface waters, evaporate, or
enter the pore network of earth they flow over.
Surface transport of petroleum wastes on open
water can occur with hydrocarbons as they are lighter
than water. With the movement of water currents and the
wind, the wastes might be pushed towards or far away
from the shoreline.

8. SUBSURFACE PATH
Subsurface pathways of transport are those where
released liquids enter the pore structure of soil or
sinks below the surface of open waters.
There are two primary types of subsurface
transport for onshore releases that can impact the
environment:
• The transport of fluids at or above the water table
from surface spills and the transport of fluids from
one geologic formation to another through
improperly plugged and abandoned wells.
• Transport of petroleum wastes below the surface of
water depends primarily on the currents in the water
and the topography of the floor of the water body.

9. ATMOSPHERIC PATH
Many petroleum industry wastes are gaseous
that are dispersed into the air, where they are
transported with the wind. Onshore sources
of air pollutants are generally regulated by the
total emission rates, while offshore sources
are generally regulated so that the resulting
onshore levels of pollutants are below
specified levels.

10. HARMFUL EFFECTS TO THE
ENVIRONMENT
• When waste water is discharged offshore, the water is
typically treated only to remove the hydrocarbons.
Although the dissolved solids(salt) concentration of the
most produced water are high enough to be toxic to
marine life.
• For near shore discharge in shallow water, a toxic
plume can exist for some distance away from the
discharged form. Such toxic plumes are of particular
concern while discharging a dense high saline, oxygen
deficient brine because it can be trapped in subsurface
topographic low areas.
• Disposal of toxic sludge can emit radiation causing
harm to living beings and the environment.

11. • Land treatment provides little control over where their
mobile fractions of the waste will go. Also the spreading
of the oily waste results in emission of volatile organic
compounds resulting in the treatment project to be in
violation of some applicable laws and regulations
governing air pollution.
• A major concern with underground disposal of water is
the potential of the well to provide a vertical
communication path from the disposal formation to any
overlying fresh water aquifer. Possible communication
path include flow up the inside of the casing through
leaks in the casing an flow up the outside the casing
through a bad cement bond.
• One major concern in the burial of soil is the potential of
the heavy metal, hydrocarbons, and salt to migrate away
from the site both downwards and upwards.

12. • Traffic accidents or train wrecks can result in waste
spills and releases of pollutants that may
contaminate the air, water, and soil.
• Wastes may also be released while being loaded or
unloaded during transportation.
• The potential for pollution releases during the
transportation of waste varies; the more hazardous
the waste and the larger the volume that is
transported, the more devastating the
environmental/human health impact if an accident
occurs.

13. CONCLUSION
Various measures have been taken to prevent environmental
hazards and for proper waste management.
The release of toxic waste into the environment will
cause great harm for which extra measures should be taken.
There should be proper cleanup measures incase any
accidental spillage of wastes takes place.
Disposal wells along with the isolated disposal zone
should be checked for leaks and cracks.
The dumping grounds for solid and liquid wastes on the
subsurface and surface should be made sure to contain the
wastes properly and the wastes should be properly treated
before its disposal to prevent environmental harm.
Petroleum sludge should undergo various methods of
treatment before being finally disposed off.

14. REFERENCES
• Research gate
• Science direct
• ‘Environmental control in petroleum
engineering’ by Dr. John.