Houston Area, Refinery Turnaround Support Services

Portfolio Categories: All, Case Studies, and Turnaround Services.

Challenge
A refinery needed a contractor to “…handle our vapor control and compliance needs during this major turnaround. We need you to keep us in compliance and provide accurate and complete records upon completion.” We can do that – it is what we do. The challenge was to handle the vapor control for 250 frac tanks and the blow downs from the towers, columns, and vapors from the vacuum trucks.

Solution
The engineers at Envent developed a plan that involved staffing the turnaround with engineers, providing vapor scrubbers that fit the service, and using thermal oxidizers engineered and sized for the task. We had 17 scrubbers, both passive and recirculating, and 3 thermal oxidizers from 5 MMBTU to 40 MMBTU being manned and operated at one time.

Benefit
Our engineers and technicians executed the entire 60 day turnaround incident free and the customer was extremely satisfied. The success of the turnaround was the result of Envent’s experience and highly specialized and trained personnel.

Envent’s 24 hour manned operation ensured the turnaround vapor control activities were done correctly and safely, and we remained in compliance.

Checks & Balances (Dragons 2)

Portfolio Categories: Degassing.

Challenge
An Envent account manager received a call from a long-time customer who had just started a tank cleaning project a day earlier. He said his project had been shut down early in the morning when the cleaning contractor witnessed flames leaping from the side manway of the tank – dragons. The customer said the tank had been several hours into the degassing phase of the project when the flames were observed. Through discussion the customer indicated Envent had bid on the degas portion of the tank project. The tank was a slop tank. The petroleum processing facility had decided to award the project to a cleaning contractor relatively new to the degassing business. Apparently by this contractor bundling their services, they had touted cost savings. It should be noted here, you get what you pay for. A meeting was scheduled to review Envent’s approach to the problem.

Solution
During the meeting the customer stated H₂S was present in liquid in the 4,000 to 5,000 ppm range. Envent had asked about pyrophorics during the tank bidding and the customer had indicated the cleaning contractor would determine the answer to that question upon award and subsequent sampling and analysis. Apparently the cleaning/degassing contractor that was awarded the project had failed to follow through with any sludge analysis and therefore did not determine if pyrophorics were present. And since the cleaning contractor was also the degassing contractor, there were no checks and balances in place that would have prevented such an oversight. Envent would never allow a degas to begin until it is positively proven there are no pyrophorics present in the tank. After all, if the degassing company is bringing in outside air, it is the degassing company’s responsibility to allow or disallow the degas to commence if all information has not been provided or proven. Envent was invited to take over the degas of the project. Using Envent’s specialized nitrogen inert degas sequence, the tank was safely and successfully degassed while the sludge inside the tank was neutralized and safely removed.

Benefit
The benefit to the customer came in the form of Checks and Balances. When one company provides two completely different scopes of work, transparency to the customer can suffer. In this case, lack of experience was crystal clear! When Envent works with an experienced cleaning contractor, the scopes of work have boundaries and it takes a team effort on both company’s behalves to safely complete the project. When one company “bundles” their cleaning and degassing services to cut costs, doesn’t it make sense that quality would also suffer? It is rare that a Jack-of-all-Trades is also the Master of all Trades.

Power Station, Groundwater Removal for Conduit Boring

Portfolio Categories: All and Mobile Water Treatment.

Challenge
A construction company in San Diego needed to bore a hole under railroad tracks for a utility company to run wire underground, 15 ft below grade. The site location was a marine terminal, so Envent was contracted to dewater the area for digging and to treat the subsequent contaminated water.

Solution
Envent acquired the permission to discharge this water from San Diego’s Industrial Wastewater Control Program and provided the dewatering pumps and the treatment system. Treatment consisted of settling, bag filters and granular activated carbon to remove diesel and gasoline range organics.

Benefit
The project resulted in the approximate savings of $24,000 and the successful discharge of 250,000 gallons of clean water.

Project: Ground Water Removal for Conduit Boring Cost Savings: $24,000 Location: San Diego, California Project: Water contaminated with diesel and gasoline range organics.

Victoria, Texas, Water Removal

Portfolio Categories: All, Case Studies, and Mobile Water Treatment.

Challenge

A 150,000-barrel storage tank with an external floating roof was experiencing seal leakage around the perimeter. During rain events, stormwater would leak into the tank, resulting in significant rainwater accumulation. Over time, the rainwater displaced valuable product storage capacity, leading to lost revenue and creating the need for a compliant water removal strategy.

In total, approximately 650,000 gallons of water had settled at the bottom of the tank, mixed with hydrocarbons and a visible oil rag layer. The customer required a safe, efficient, and environmentally compliant method for water removal, hydrocarbon recovery, and vapor control, followed by tank degassing to prepare for return to service.

Solution

Envent Corporation deployed a custom-engineered water treatment system, including:

Activated carbon scrubbers and oil-water separation equipment to treat hydrocarbons and remove the oil rag layer
Frac tanks placed strategically to isolate solids and settled hydrocarbons, minimizing cross-contamination
A follow-up mobile tank degassing operation using an EMTOS (Envent Mobile Thermal Oxidizer System) to safely eliminate VOCs
Real-time vapor monitoring to ensure non-detect VOC concentrations, meeting all air quality permit limits

The project was completed ahead of schedule, with no regulatory exceedances and full control of hazardous vapors throughout the operation.

Benefit

Envent’s turnkey water treatment and vapor control solution enabled the customer to:

Recover valuable hydrocarbons, adding cost savings compared to hauling off contaminated product
Minimize downtime by returning the tank to service quickly and safely
Maintain full compliance with air and water discharge regulations
Eliminate VOC emissions during degassing, protecting workers and the environment

This project highlights Envent’s expertise in external floating roof tank recovery, hydrocarbon-contaminated water treatment, and refinery vapor control—delivering efficient, compliant, and cost-saving solutions tailored to complex tank storage challenges.

Project: Condensed Water Removal from Storage Tank Location: Victoria, Texas Product: Water contaminated with gasoline range organics.

Terminal Water Treatment – Bakersfield, California

Portfolio Categories: All and Mobile Water Treatment.

Challenge
A tank at a terminal contained 3,000,000 gallons of hydrostatic test water to be disposed of. Envent utilized a pre-treatment system consisting of particulate filtration, clay absorption media, and granular activated carbon adsorption to remove the crude oil residual.

Solution
Envent engineers developed a cost effective solution on this project to handle the organic levels in the water. Process layout drawings and permitting support was also provided to keep the project moving on schedule. The treated water was sampled for laboratory analysis and was shown to be in compliance with the NPDES discharge limits. The water was then discharged through a sprinkler network to land.

Benefit
By treating and discharging the hydrostatic test water with an economical solution, Envent’s mobile water treatment technology saved the customer an estimated $250,000, when factoring the hauling and disposal cost of the remote site.

Project: Tank Water Treatment and Discharging Onsite Cost Savings: $250,000 Location: Bakersfield, California Product: Hydrostatic test water with crude oil residual

Louisiana Chem Plant, Wastewater Treatment and Oil/Sludge Removal

Portfolio Categories: All and Mobile Water Treatment.

Challenge
A customer had 30,000 barrels of process/sump water in a terminal station tank that needed to be de-inventoried. The original plan was to haul the hazardous process water off-site to a waste treatment facility.

Solution
Instead, Envent proposed treating and discharging the water at a fraction of the cost. Envent acquired the discharge permit to ensure regulatory compliance. The process water was then successfully treated using a combination of air flotation, filtration pods, clay media and granular activated carbon.

Benefit
Approximately 1 million gallons of clean water was discharged to the POTW and an estimated $450,000 was saved when compared to transportation costs.

Cost Savings: $450,000 Location: Louisiana Refinery Product: Oil and sludge-laden water

Alaska, Gasoline Pipelines 22 miles Hydrotest Wastewater Treatment & Disposal

Portfolio Categories: All and Mobile Water Treatment.

Challenge
A petroleum company hydrotested a 22 mile pipeline and required treatment of 685,000 gallons of hydrotest water.

Mobile Water Treatment | Envent Corporation — CLICK TO VIEW

Solution
By mobilizing water treatment equipment and specialized personnel to this remote location for two months, Envent was able to safely and economically treat the hydrotest water for sediment, scale, and residual oil. The hydrotest water was treated with granular activated carbon and filtration technologies and met the stringent turbidity and pH requirements for discharge to the Alaskan tundra.

Benefit
Envent’s ability to respond to distant projects saved the customer approximately $550, 000 when compared to remote transportation options and water treatment alternatives.

Project: Pipeline Hydrotest Cost Savings: $550,000 Location: Alaska Product: Hydrotest water with sediment and residual oil

Los Angeles, California, Major Oil Pipeline Emergency Water Treatment

Portfolio Categories: All, Case Studies, and Mobile Water Treatment.

Challenge
A pipeline company required emergency treatment and discharge of contaminated water to the Los Angeles City Sanitation system during a construction project. The effluent pipeline water properties varied over time due to numerous drilling and grouting activities occurring upstream of the effluent.

Solution
Envent efficiently provided a mobile water treatment system and the proper POTW regulatory permitting for the project. The emergency was resolved by Envent rolling out equipment on short notice with persistent communications with local water board to keep the customer in compliance. By meeting the POTW specifications, a total of 200,000 gallons of effluent was treated discharged from the project. The polluted pipeline water was treated with water settling equipment and filtration technologies.

Benefits
Because of Envent’s quick response and high flexibility, the pipeline company could finish their construction without further delays to the schedule. A great saving was achieved when compared to the hauling and off-site treatment costs the customer and further delays to the pipeline construction project.

Pipeline Relocation and Emergency Water Treatment