NCOC launches new water treating facilities to reduce discharges into environment
NCOC has completed construction of the New Water Treating Facilities at Bolashak Onshore Processing Facility (OPF), Kazinform News Agency learnt from the company’s press service.
NCOC marks the 30th anniversary of the North Caspian Project by putting into operation the New Water Treating Facilities at Bolashak OPF in the Atyrau Oblast. This major project is designed to subsequently reduce water intake from the Astrakhan – Mangystau pipeline and improve the quality of treated effluent water discharged into evaporation ponds through additional treatment of effluents from Bolashak OPF.
The construction of the New Onshore Water Treating Facilities began in 2020. The scope of work included construction of produced water treatment unit within boundary of OPF (Brownfield) and standalone water treatment (all effluent) facility (Greenfield). Brownfield unit consists mainly of off-spec water tank, chemical injection package, sour water stripper column, heat exchangers, electrical substation, and various pumps and auxiliary systems. Normally unmanned Greenfield water treatment facility with various tanks, highly technological filtration equipment, standalone utilities and emergency power supply systems and other auxiliary systems have been constructed on the distance 1.6 km from OPF Bolashak toward the evaporation lagoons. On the peak of construction around 1,500 people were involved at a time on the site (including contractor personnel and NCOC employees). More than 3,000 Kazakh nationals were employed for the project works, and significant amount of equipment were manufactured in Kazakhstan demonstrating NCOC's commitment to Local Content development.
The maximum design capacity of the New Water Treating Facilities is 110 m3/h or 2640 m3/day. This capacity is sufficient for routine production operations. Following the start-up of the New Water Treating Facilities, environmental efficiency of effluent water treatment is expected to improve by reducing the content of such pollutants as oil, hydrogen sulphide, iron, and suspended solids.
Water is a scarce natural resource in Kazakhstan so reducing its usage for industrial purpose is important. The produced water from offshore/onshore operations will be treated in two stages: first, at the production site and then, at the new facilities. Treated industrial wastewater generated by process units will be reused extensively in production operations thus sustaining the reduced water intake from the Astrakhan – Mangystau. For the purpose of water reuse the quality of treated wastewater will be brought into compliance with the requirements applied to process water.
“We strive for using water resources effectively and reducing the environmental impact. In this regard, the Water Treating Facilities Project is one of the critical projects offering a solution to both production and environmental issues. In the process of construction, we made a point of adopting advanced environmental technologies and practices," said Yuriy Amanbayev, NCOC General Manager Brownfield Projects.
