Case study · International project

Drilling waste bioremediation — Samawah, Iraq

A project in Block 12, Samawah, Iraq, on soil and sludge left by drilling operations. IEBCO worked as sub-contractor: supplying the bioremediation agent, and providing consulting and technical monitoring for the treatment operation.

A petroleum waste pit at a drilling site, before work began.

Contract record

Title as recorded in the contract

Supply of the Bioremediation agent, and consulting and monitoring the implementation of bioremediation operations required for biological treatment of the hydrocarbon contaminations in the polluted site containing soil and sludge residue from oil-drilling activity in oil well (Iraq - Samawa - Block 12)

Location (as recorded): Samawah, Iraq – Block 12
Contract period: 2019
Status: Completed
Project type: Field project
IEBCO’s role: Sub-contractor

What the first site visit recorded

The initial visit recorded two contaminated areas: a waste pit holding drilling waste and mud, and a flare pit holding weathered petroleum waste.

Both areas were sampled, and the samples were examined for TPH, PAH compounds and elemental composition.

Initial contamination data

The conditions the work started from

These figures come from the initial site assessment — the state of the contamination when the work was handed over, not the outcome of treatment. They set the scale and the difficulty of the job.

88,000 mg/kg

TPH, waste pit

at initial assessment

Samawah, Iraq – Block 12 · IEBCO’s role: Sub-contractor

195,000 mg/kg

TPH, flare pit

at initial assessment

Samawah, Iraq – Block 12 · IEBCO’s role: Sub-contractor

The project documentation records TPH by GC-MS and elemental analysis by ICP-MS. Those are analytical methods used on the project; they do not imply that IEBCO owns the instrumentation.

Waste pit geometry

The recorded dimensions of the pit are what set the volume that had to be lifted and treated. The drawing below is redrawn from those dimensions.

Plan

Long section

Drawn from the dimensions recorded in the project report. Horizontal scale is true; the vertical scale in the section is exaggerated so the sludge layer is legible.

Recorded waste pit dimensions
Opening, length	39 m
Opening, width	29 m
Base, length	33 m
Base, width	23 m
Total depth	4 m
Depth of oily sludge	3.5 m

Role and method

What IEBCO was contracted to do

IEBCO’s scope is explicit in the contract title: supply of the bioremediation agent required for the work, and consulting and monitoring of the biological treatment of the site’s hydrocarbon contamination.

Project activities on record

Site assessment
Sampling
Laboratory analysis
Production and transport of the bioremediation material
Excavation and waste transfer
Bioremediation operations
Technical monitoring

Field execution

Lift, spread, mix

These photographs come from this project’s own archive. Each caption describes what is visible in the frame and the stage it belongs to.

The site’s petroleum waste pit before work began. — The pit as found

An excavator lifting petroleum waste out of the pit. — Lifting the waste out of the pit

The pit after the petroleum waste had been lifted out. — The emptied pit

A wheel loader and a dozer beside a heap of excavated soil on the open site. — Earthmoving across the works area

Petroleum waste spread across a prepared treatment bed. — Waste spread on the treatment bed

Petroleum waste spread and mixed across a prepared treatment bed. — Mixing the waste into the bed

A dozer working along windrows of dark petroleum waste mixed into pale soil. — Tilling the windrows

The works area after the treatment stages were carried out. — The area after the treatment stages

Photographs from IEBCO’s project archive.

On the final outcome

The figures on this page belong to the initial site assessment. IEBCO’s recorded scope on this project was supply of the material, consulting and monitoring, and no report of the final treatment outcome is available in the company’s official sources.

So no figure on this page is presented as a result. Every number here describes the contamination as it was before the work started.

Technical note

ICP-MS for elemental analysis and GC-MS for TPH and PAH determination are analytical methods used on this project. They are not IEBCO-owned instrumentation and should not be read as the company’s laboratory facilities.

Project parties

Each party is shown with the role the source records for this contract, and nothing beyond it.

Client: Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas Group Co., Ltd (Iraqi Branch)
Main contractor: Al-Mimar Company for Oil Services, Ltd.
Sub-contractor: Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology Company

Related capabilities

The working areas this project falls under.

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The type of contamination, the approximate volume of waste, and initial TPH data where you have it are enough for a first assessment.

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