Exhibits E-H
To the Petition for Review of a decision by the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency, July 2, 2009
(Hillsboro Energy, L.L.C., Deer Run Mine)
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
Exhibit E
:
Baseline Surface Water Sample Site Data
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
Exhibit F
:
Hydrology of Mine Pit Lakes
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
Exhibit G
:
Sulfate Removal from Injected Water in Oilfield Operations
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
Sulfate Removal from Injected Water in Oilfield Operations
The FILMTEC™ SR90 nanofiltration membrane (and the resultant sulfate removal technology) has been developed in a cooperative effort between The Dow Chemical
Company and the Marathon Oil Company to selectively remove sulfate from seawater that is used for waterflood injection operations.
There are two major advantages in the removal of sulfate from injected seawater.
•
Prevention of barium and strontium sulfate scale precipitation. When normal high sulfate seawater is injected into reservoirs which have formation water containing
barium and strontium, mixing occurs forming a supersaturated barium and / or strontium sulfate solution. Upon pressure decreases in and around the production wells,
the supersaturated barium and / or strontium sulfate solution is no longer stable and precipitation occurs. The result is scale formation in the production tubing and / or
plugging of reservoir rock around the production well. Petroleum reserves are often lost. By removing sulfate from injected seawater, the potential for scaling is
prevented. This is contrasted with traditional scale remediation treatments and procedures addressing scale problems after they occur. In deep water and other complex
oil developments, sulfate removal, and the subsequent prevention of scale, provides significant cost advantages.
•
Souring Control / Mitigation in reservoirs containing barium and strontium. By removing the sulfate in the injected seawater, there simply is a reduced source of sulfur that
can be converted to hydrogen sulfide by thermophilic sulfate reducing bacteria. Consequently, well souring does not occur. Examples of sweet oilfields that became
sour upon waterflood breakthrough following the injection of high sulfate seawater, include Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, and Gulfaks in the North Sea. By removing the
sulfate from the injection water providing subsequent souring control, there is a reduced need for sour safe metallurgy, costly hydrogen sulfide removal equipment, and
health and safety concerns. Along with sulfate removal in normal scale prone reservoirs, the Reservoir Souring Mitigation (RSM) Technology is being developed by Dow
and Marathon to ensure no hydrogen sulfide generation for reservoirs - regardless of barium or strontium content.
The nanofiltration membrane also removes all particles greater than one one-thousands of a micron resulting in high quality injection water free of silica and bacterial
materials thereby insuring continued injection rates reflective of initial reservoir conditions.
Sulfate removal provides maximum benefits in oil developments exhibiting the following characteristics.
a) Deep water operations with subsea vs. dry well heads. Chemical squeeze inhibitor treatments generally cannot be applied when access to a dry well head is not
available.
b) Horizontal or multilateral reservoir developments where there is difficulty / risk in the placement of chemical squeeze inhibitors.
c) Costly production wells where the loss of one well due to scaling could approximate the cost of a sulfate removal unit.
d) Mild / Moderate scaling potential in combination with costly and / or complex reservoir developments.
It has been observed that sulfate removal is being accepted as the "default" scale control technique in most West African and Brazilian operations. Seven additional
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
sulfate removal facilities are either in operation or under construction in the North Sea. Total sulfate removal capacity is approximately 4MM BWPD for existing systems
and systems under construction.
Products
FILMTEC SR90-400
i
and SR90-440
i
nanofiltration membranes are used exclusively in offshore oilfield applications. In addition to the membrane elements, the product
includes end use know-how, proprietary operation procedures, risk assessments, detailed system designs, and a sublicense of the Marathon Oil Company patent, which
allows an end user to practice the technology. Extensive field experience, product technical manuals (under confidentiality and sublicensing agreements) and research
has resulted in a one-third reduction in weight, space, and cost requirements since the inception of the technology. Systems are designed specifically to ensure the
elimination of scale and for particular platform requirements and reservoir characteristics.
Features
Eliminating Scale
Removal of sulfate eliminates the sulfate component from injection water that causes scale formation. Reducing or eliminating scale:
1. Eliminates the existing scale inhibitor squeeze treatments.
a. Cost of such treatments.
b. Deferred oil production during squeeze treatments.
c. Necessary monitoring of residual scale inhibitors.
d. Potential reservoir damage from these treatments.
e. Discharge of scale inhibitors and resultant environmental concerns.
2. Eliminates potential coprecipitation of radium 226 which results in radioactive barium sulfate scale and resultant handling and disposal costs.
3. Potential loss of a well (reservoir reserves) due to scaling and resultant unsuccessful well workovers.
4. The cost of a well workover. In some areas, two or three well workovers often equal the cost of a sulfate removal facility.
Eliminating Hydrogen Sulfide
An auxiliary benefit is that by reducing sulfate injected into barium and / or strontium rich reservoirs, one eliminates the source of sulfur that is converted to hydrogen
sulfide by sulfate reducing bacteria. This applies only to wells such as those in the North Sea that were sweet until waterflood breakthrough when they turned
sour. Eliminating hydrogen sulfide generation:
1. Reduces safety, health, and environmental concerns by eliminating the production of deadly hydrogen sulfide.
2. Reduces the cost related to sour gas and oil treatment or dedicated "sour safe" pipelines.
3. Allows use of less costly metallurgy for the operation due to reduced stress cracking and corrosion.
4. Reduces sulfide scale problems (ferric sulfide is exceptionally troublesome).
5. Reduces the potential for necessary addition equipment on a platform or FPSO with limited space and weight capacities.
6. Improves the economics of a discovery to "tip the scales" in pursuing v. abandoning a new prospect via risk analysis.
Competitive Offerings
The Dow / Marathon Sulfate Removal Technology is a patented process offered by four worldwide non-exclusive licensees. The licensees / system suppliers
include: Aker Kværner Process Systems of Lysaker, Norway; NATCO Group of Houston, TX, USA and Farnborough, UK; Siemens - US Filter of Houston, TX, USA and
Oslo, Norway; and VWS Westgarth Ltd. of East Kilbride, Scotland and Gloucester, UK as well as Houston TX, USA.
Case Histories
Low Sulfate Seawater Mitigates Barite Scale - Jim Hardy and Ian Sims, Marathon Oil UK Ltd.
Oil and Gas Journal
, 02 Decemeber 1996.
Barite Scale Prevention for Elf Angola's Girassol Field Using Sulphate Removal Technology, Van Khoi Vu, Elf Exploration Angola, Paris France, Deep Offshore
Technology Conference, October 1999.
Eliminating the Need for Scale Inhibition Treatments for Elf Exploration Angola's Girassol Field, Van Khoi Vu, Elf Exploration Angola, Paris France, SPE 60229,
January 2000.
Low Sulfate Water Injection Knocks Off Production Hit-List,
Offshore
Magazine, Pennwell, April 1998
Seawater Membrane Filtration Used to Control Scale in Syd Arne Reservoir,
Offshore
Magazine, Pennwell, August 2001, English
New System at Heidrun removes sulfate from seawater,
Offshore
Magazine, Pennwell, May 2004.
Deepwater project economics demand sulfate removal to ensure scale-fee operation,
Offshore
Magazine, Pennwell, May 2003.
The Advancement of Sulfate Removal from Seawater in Offshore Waterflood Operations (972KB PDF) presented at CORROSION/2002
NACE International Web Site
©NACE International. All rights reserved. Paper Number 02314 reproduced with permission from CORROSION/2002 Annual Conference and Exhibition, Denver, CO.
Presentations / Reference List
For in-depth discussions and review of how Sulfate Removal may provide field operation cost reductions for each particular reservoir development, please contact
either:
The Dow Chemical Company (Scott Beardsleyat (952) 897-4290 ssbeardsley@dow.com
) or Marathon Oil (George Southwell at (303) 692-0139 george@prattllc.net)
®™
*
Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") or an affiliated company of Dow
Dow Water Solutions Home
: FILMTEC Membranes
: Applications : Sulfate Removal from Injected Water in Oilfield Operations
http://www.dow.com/liquidseps/prod/sp_oil.htm
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
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Exhibit H
:
Sulphate removal demonstration plant
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
- 21 January 2008 -
Sulphate removal demonstration plant
BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc, which specialises in the treatment of industrial
contaminated water, has created a development agreement with Freeport McMoRan
Copper and Gold to jointly engineer, construct and operate a demonstration plant for the
removal of sulphate and other dissolved solids at the Sierrita copper mine site in
southern Arizona, USA, using BioteQ's proprietary Sulf-IX ion-exchange technology. The
plant, to be constructed in 2008, is anticipated to have a total capacity of 125 gallons
per minute.
"We are optimistic about the market opportunities for our sulphate reduction technology,
as regulations for sulphate discharge are tightening in many jurisdictions around the
world, driving the need for environmental compliance in industries like mining, metal
processing, pulp and paper, and chemical manufacturing," said Brad Marchant, BioteQ's
President & CEO. "The Sierrita project will be the first large-scale application of BioteQ's
Sulf-IX process."www.bioteq.caThis update is brought to you by
Filtration Industry
Analyst
, the business information newsletter. To receive a sample copy of
Filtration
Industry Analyst
, click here
.
BioteQ Signs Agreement with Molymet for Sulphate Removal
Plant; -To Replace Existing Reverse Osmosis Plant-.
Canadian Corporate News
, February, 2008
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Feb 20, 2008 (Marketwire via COMTEX) -- BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc.
(TSX:BQE), a leader in the treatment of metal and sulphate contaminated water, reports that it has signed a
construction and operating agreement with Molibdenos y Metales S.A. (Molymet) to build and operate a Sulf-IX(TM)
water treatment plant to remove sulphate, replacing an existing reverse osmosis process at Molymet's Nos refinery
near Santiago, Chile.
The plant, to be built in three stages to allow gradual replacement of existing technology, is expected to have a capital
From www.bioteq.ca:
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, July 2, 2009
* * * * * PCB 2010-003 * * * * *
The Sulf-IX
TM
Process
The Sulf-IX
TM
ion exchange process is a two stage process employing two different resins to remove calcium and sulphate ions
(Ca
2+
and SO
4
2-
) from water. The resins are regenerated using the low-cost reagents, sulphuric acid and lime, so that the only
products of the process are clean water that can be discharged or re-used, and a solid gypsum product that can be used in
building products and fertilizer production. A simple schematic of the process is shown below.
The Sulf-IX™ process is particularly suited for the removal of sulphate from lime plant effluent but is applicable for the treatment
of any process stream or wastewater high in Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Ca/Mg hardness. The complete process cycle
includes resin loading, regeneration and rinsing. Feed water is first passed through a series of contactors containing cation
exchange resin to remove primarily calcium and magnesium by loading the cations onto the resin, and then through contactors
containing anion exchange resin to remove sulphate.
The technology was initially based on the GYP-CIX technology developed in South Africa, which also uses sulphuric acid and lime
for resin regeneration. The Sulf-IX
TM
process, however, overcomes difficulties of the GYP-CIX process associated with limited
process flexibility for varying feed chemistry, mechanical entrainment of gypsum in the regeneration stage, and limitations on
sulphate removal when magnesium is present in significant concentration in the feed water.
BioteQ is working with Freeport McMoRan to build a demonstration plant at the Sierrita mine site in southern Arizona. Click here
to find out about more BioteQ's developing projects.
Benefits of the Sulf-IX™ ion exchange technology
•
Uses simple and low-cost reagents to remove sulphate from water to levels that meet or exceed tightening sulphate
regulations.
•
Produces only clean water and a clean gypsum product than can provide added-value due to its potential use as a
construction material.
•
High recovery of water
•
Ideally suited for sulphate removal form lime plant effluent
•
Costs less compared to alternative processes.