De Nora’s product and industry expert, Andrew Boal, has a PhD in organic chemistry, having spent the earlier part of his career at Sandia National Labs and NASA doing research in nanotechnology and looking for life on other planets before joining the water industry. So, you may be wondering why he’s uniquely qualified to advise our Oil & Gas customers on how to best treat oilfield water at various stages of the production process. Today, his scientific mind is being applied to developing novel approaches to Oil & Gas water treatment, particularly for midstream companies and produced water recycling opportunities. As Andrew would say, “Think of produced water as a valuable resource, not an operational waste product.”
De Nora’s focus for the Oil & Gas industry has always been on disinfecting freshwater used in hydraulic fracturing; however, there has recently been increasing demand for midstream water management, because of the scarcity—and value—of fresh water. Since this is one of the more complex areas of water treatment, De Nora relies on experts like Andrew to address these challenges. “The makeup of this water is very complicated—much more so than at a municipal water treatment plant or cooling tower.” He further explains, “With hydraulic fracturing, you get 9-10 barrels of produced water for every barrel of oil, and that produced water needs to be disposed of elsewhere.” It is estimated that in the U.S. onshore environment, up to 20 billion barrels of water are produced every year, along with hydrocarbons. This water is injected into either producing wells for enhanced oil recovery or into saltwater disposal wells. Pure volume is just one of the reasons that the demand for recycling has increased exponentially.
Get to know De Nora expert, Nick Armstrong, Global Product Manager for the SORB™ family of products. With 15 years of experience under his belt, he recently joined De Nora from a background in the high purity industrial water space—providing solutions for pharmaceutical, semiconductor and power plant applications all over the world. His field is one where extreme purity counts. Now at De Nora, he’s managing our SORB contaminant removal line—targeting specific contaminants, like arsenic, iron, and manganese—as well as working toward developing new approaches to address emerging contaminate concerns globally. Today, Nick brings his passion for innovation to our entire SORB™ portfolio of solutions.
Worldwide, the need to convert contaminated water sources to usable water is growing. By 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change. With De Nora’s long standing history and excellent reputation as a innovator in water treatment technologies, we have the process knowledge, experience, and capabilities to specify, install, and maintain your passive arsenic adsorption system.
Keep Your SORB System in Prime Condition
Engineers, site managers, and maintenance personnel alike understand that proper operation and minimal maintenance of a treatment facility is critical. With our process guarantee, we can ensure optimal performance of a system for many years between media exchanges. That’s where our knowledge and service offerings come in. When you are ready, we can perform a complete media changeout, arranging for everything at your site in an efficient manner. We vacuum out the exhausted media, dispose of it at a landfill, and then commission your system so it’s ready for use. Regardless of whether or not we provided your initial system, we can extend our process guarantee with our service.
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About SORB 33
De Nora SORB 33® is a granular iron oxide media, specifically made for the removal of arsenic thru adsorption. Our SORB 33 systems employ a ‘pump and treat’ process that flows pressurized well or spring water through a fixed-bed pressure vessel containing the media where the arsenic removal occurs. SORB solutions are available in a range of sizes and configurations—designed to treat your specific flow rate and quality expectations.
Your media life will typically range from 6 months to 6 years, depending on water quality levels. Media usage, however, can be optimized in multiple parallel flow adsorber systems through staging, whereby each adsorber is staggered so one is operating in the latter stages of its life.
Although these systems are simple to operate, owners should consider a De Nora service agreement to support the most effective operation of the system and undertake media change-out when required.
The De Nora Commitment
With over two decades of demonstrated effectiveness, De Nora SORB adsorption and ion exchange systems can help solve environmental, regulatory, and public health water treatment challenges and is a best available technology (BAT) for many contaminants of concern. The innovation team at De Nora is continually seeking process improvements and are in a constant state of development to offer our customers even greater efficiencies.
To keep informed about the latest trends, follow Nick on LinkedIn.
An investment in drinking water and wastewater systems is undertaken to protect public health and the environment. The decision to move ahead on a capital project is one that should not be taken lightly. Whether you are designing a new facility or upgrading an older site, any capital investment, should include the implementation of measures to protect that capital investment. The most effective way to protect an equipment purchase is to follow manufacturer-recommended maintenance and service procedures and schedules. Download our Checklist using the form on this page to keep your equipment in tip top shape.
An equipment purchase is effectively the start of a long relationship between the purchasing company and manufacturer, going well beyond the installation, start-up and commissioning of a system. As a result, it’s important to focus on the service and maintenance a manufacturer offers throughout the life of the equipment. A simple review of the service offerings will help ensure a partnership with a manufacturer that understands what is required to effectively support their system.
Water and wastewater system operators play an important role in ensuring reliable water and wastewater equipment performance. Proper operation and maintenance of water and wastewater treatment equipment depends largely on the operators and the training they’ve received to support the equipment. Equipment-specific training from a manufacturer at start-up and routinely throughout the life of the equipment is important, especially given the high turnover rate of trained and experienced operators at water and wastewater treatment facilities.
From an operation and maintenance perspective, some of the common deficiencies affecting the ability to follow manufacturer-recommended procedures and schedules include:
Your electrolytic system is designed to be rugged and dependable, so make sure you protect your investment with OEM parts. Counterfeit and non-OEM components will not only nullify your warranty but will cause you to lose your IMO certification—adding a safety risk that no one in this industry can afford to take.
Don’t be deceived by look-a-likes. Many items offered in today’s marketplace ‘appear’ to be exact copies of certified OEM parts, so much so that an unsuspecting purchasing agent may not question their authenticity. Furthermore, many of these knockoffs are advertised as ‘same as original’ or ‘meets OEM standards’. However, the use of counterfeit parts could lead to operational equipment changes, premature breakdowns, and non-compliant effluent discharge values. The use of non-OEM parts can also result in potential fines and poor environmental-impact reviews if the equipment is outside the type certified or approved design. These are some of the potential consequences that mindful customers should not risk.
Meet De Nora’s global service and support team. Our aftermarket team is comprised of highly skilled technicians certified for working offshore—a differentiator that matters. Our experts have built many OMNIPURE systems over the course of several years, prior to servicing them. In short, we know our components and the regulations inside and out. There’s a lot we can do beyond supplying OEM replacement parts. Do you need help with implementing your annual refurbishment program? Is your system aging or having a particularly troublesome issue? Does your maintenance staff need a refresher course or other training? Do you need us to service a remote or difficult to reach location? Look no further than De Nora’s global aftermarket team for the best advice and product knowledge.
Do you have an older OMNIPURE system? Let us refurbish your system and get it working like new. Our certified technicians can upgrade your system to the most recent version, test and certify it, and extend your warranty. Our upgrade program applies to any model in the field, regardless of age. Learn more.
About our Experts
Dana Casbeer, our OMNIPURE Product Line Manager, has been with De Nora for almost a quarter of a century. A native of Houston, TX, he has an extensive background as a Mechanical Engineer installing, maintaining, and servicing offshore electrolytic systems for both offshore and marine customers. Follow him on LinkedIn to keep informed about the latest information for OMNIPURE.
As a mechanical engineer and technology professional, who was also one of the original designers of SANILEC equipment in the early 2000s, Jose Lopez understands the piping and structural layouts of seawater electro-chlorination systems inside and out. Today, as the technology manager for both SANILEC and SEACLOR product lines, he is on a mission to make the maintenance and care of these critical systems readily accessible to offshore equipment owners everywhere.
For any near shore or offshore application—from power plant cooling to firewater circuits or any underwater equipment that has access to saltwater, De Nora is the electro-chlorination market leader. De Nora has been instrumental in making sure that essential Oil & Gas equipment stays clean and in optimum condition for almost 100 years—with performance, safety, and environmental concerns as top priorities.
De Nora Retrofit Programs
Extending the life of older equipment can help lower costs, and in many instances, keep your electro-chlorination system working as good as new. Many systems in the field, even those 20-25 years or older, have an excellent maintenance record. Form the retrofit perspective, for them maintenance is more about cell replacement every five to seven years. Other customers may be experiencing downsizing of their staff and need a remote monitoring capability—with the addition of automation, transmitters, and controls so the operator can monitor the health of a system from a single master control center. While remote monitoring has been in practice a very long time—primarily for status and alarms —De Nora can improve that automation by designing a box (seawater in/hypochlorite out), then sending the hypochlorite to ten or more different locations. Automating the process allows the operators to avoid isolating those valves—saving time, money, and unplanned outages.
Other older systems may be ready to change out their technology—either because they have outgrown their capacity and need more chlorination. These SANILEC customers may want to add an additional electrolyzer, or alternatively upgrade to the SEACLOR product line, which features a more compact design and the ability to produce higher capacities. Regardless, these are major decisions that take advanced planning and our field technicians are at the ready to review your specific requirements and make a recommendation.
Expert Interview with Bill Stimeling
