Petroleum Production and Transportation: Avoiding Environmental Problems in Transportation of Oil
In 1989, a breakdown in communications and a lapse in procedure caused the Exxon Valdez to run aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, spilling 11 million gallons of Alaska crude. In the wake of this costly disaster, Congress enacted the Oil...
Petroleum Production and Transportation: Extraction of Crude Oil
Oil production typically starts with exploration that uses seismology and drilling to locate geological formations that contain oil. To access an oil reservoir, a drilling platform is placed over the site. At the bottom of the rotating drill pipe l...
Petroleum Production and Transportation: Petroleum Production Waste Streams
Because petroleum sources can be found in vastly different regions, producers must mitigate the impact of crude oil production on its surrounding ecosystems. The principal waste stream from production at ARCO's Coles-Levee field in California is co...
Petroleum Production and Transportation: Transportation of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products
Transportation of crude and petroleum products via pipeline and marine vessels is an integral part of the oil industry. The products are also stored in large tank farms. Over land, pipelines handle most of this load, transporting crude oil (dark p...
Petroleum Refining and Waste Minimization: Petroleum Refining
The first step in optimizing the refining process is determining the composition of the crude. The analysis identifies undesirable trace metals and minerals, like sulfur, which are detrimental to equipment. Since the various hydrocarbon chains foun...
Petroleum Refining and Waste Minimization: Crude Oil, Hydrocarbons and Refineries
Carbon, the building block of life, can bond with itself and hydrogen in an infinite number of ways to form molecules called hydrocarbons. Crude oil is a mixture of all lengths of carbon chains, depending on the source. It can be viscous and conta...
The Delicate Balance, Part 2: Less is More
The same kind of technology that created most of today's environmental problems is equally capable of finding ways to correct them and, more importantly, mitigate the damage that current processes generate. The problem is not to generate more energy...
The Paint and Surface Coating Industries: The Auto Body Industry
For decades, workers in the auto body industry were exposed to hazardous emissions, and pollutants were leached into the air. As a result, auto paint manufacturers resolved to develop more environmentally friendly paints. Today's auto paints are g...
The Paint and Surface Coating Industries: Powder Coatings
Over the years, there has been a trend away from coatings that emit volatile organic compounds. One of the more exciting developments in this regard has been the use of powder coatings. Powder coatings are applied as dry, finely divided particles ...
The Paint and Surface Coating Industries: Surface Stripping
To keep the nation's fleet of military aircraft painted requires thousand of gallons of paint and primer, and a year-round effort. At military facilities like Hill Air Force Base, the past use of hazardous liquid solvents to remove old paint left l...