Petroleum drill cuttings treatment using stabilization/solidification and biological process combination

Abstract

Oil industry generates a considerable amount of petroleum drill cuttings (PDC) which must be managed and treated properly. The objective of this work is to develop a treatment method in order to reduce or eliminate the PDC pollution composed mainly of hydrocarbons. The stabilization/solidification (S/S) is combined with biological treatment and the Portland cement was used as a hydraulic binder; whereas, the cement quantity was partially substituted by two additives such as compost and bentonite. The experimental solidification tests were evaluated by the monitoring of the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and the hydrocarbon degradation within the cementitious matrix (CM) by the measurement of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). The results showed that after 28 days of cure, the UCS was significantly affected by additives’ incorporation in the solidification formulation (SF). In contrast, it favored the TPH degradation within the CM. The additives’ incorporation of 2%, 4% and 6% reduced the TPH content to 29.47%, 33.96% and 37.21% for bentonite and 53.17%, 61.51% and 64.43% for compost. For the additive mixture, a reduction of 59.62%, 65.35% and 72.53% was recorded.