OPEC - Oil Polution Environmental Control

OPEC SRJ – submerged rotary jet mixers, for crude oil sludge mitigation in crude oil storage tanks. Oil re-circulation pumps, tank farm management.

Crud Oil Jet Mixers In Tank Venturi Nozzle

Crud Oil Jet Mixers Re-circulation Re-suspension Pump

Jet Mixers Re-circulation Re-suspension Pump

Opec : Jet Mixers

OPEC’s ‘SRJ’ – submerged rotating jet mixing machine is used to minimise the formation of sludge in the bottom of crude oil storage tanks.

The SRJ is a permanently fixed ‘tank farm management’ tool.

It can also be used for product blending.

Widely accepted in the oil sector for being the best available technique it has replaced other industry standard technologies with many oil majors around the world.

OPEC has worked on the process and application of jet mixing techniques since the mid 1990’s.

The latest version utilises a patented venturi nozzle which greatly reduces time and increases efficiency for blending and sludge mitigation.

We have successfully installed jet mixers as a single centre mounted unit for the largest of tanks – 109m diameter / 1 million BBL crude oil storage tanks.

OPEC also provides dedicated specialised mobile diesel powered zone 1 rated pumping systems to power the mixers at the tank.

Jet Mixers: Explained

What is a ‘submerged rotating jet mixer’?
Jet Mixer Benefits:

The jet mixer uses oil from the tank and re-circulates it through the mixer via the re-circulation pump. Therefore, there are no chemicals or water or steam required or any other intermediary plant and equipment. The technique is purely based on creating a ‘jet flux’, a powerful shearing effect, breaking up sludge which has compacted at the base of the tank using the oil already in the tank. This enables soluble petroleum hydrocarbons to be released back into the overhead oil in the tank. In some cases as much as 90% of sludge is a recoverable, saleable product.

This process commonly referred to as ‘tank re-suspension’ is normally only required to take place for 24-48 hours once per month. Once the process has finished the tank is left to settle before any pumping out takes place to ensure waxes, asphaltenes, water and inorganics sink back to the bottom of the tank.

The jet mixers rotate very slowly during the operation using a sealed gearbox built within the body of the machine. As oil passes over the inlet of the mixer an impeller turns the gearbox shaft to allow the body to rotate.

The impeller type, number of nozzles, nozzle size and shape are all calculated for each project depending on the application for optimum performance to mitigate sludge formation.

Minimise sludge in tanks
Maximise storage capacity
Optimise profits
Increase tank longevity
Decrease tank cleaning time/cost
Eliminate the need for ex-situ sludge treatment processes
Eliminate the need for sludge landfill/holding lagoons
Protect the environment
Safeguard tank use operations