Post by
pioneer69 on Jul 14, 2010 12:50pm
excerpt from Canadian Business Journal
We interviewed an agile Canadian company that seems to be taking all the aforementioned points to heart. Wescorp has licensed their new H2OMaxx technology and is focused on preservation with its eyes set on clean up in the Gulf of Mexico. What was interesting about their technology is its ability to clean the water without the use of chemicals. We mentioned Wescorp in our last article; however, we thought that it may be fitting to take a deeper dive into their technology and abilities. I had an interview with Wescorp’s VP of Business Development Dave LeMoine to talk briefly about the H2Omaxx technology.
Dwayne Matthews: What is Wescorp’s H2OMaxx technology?
Dave LeMoine: H20maxx is a patented process that separates oil from water, in a single process, setting new industry standards. To achieve the same results the industry requires multiple technologies.
DM: There are many ways already known to separate oil and water. What makes this unique? How does it compare to current methods of technologies being used to clean-up spills?
DLeM: H20Maxx uses a micro-bubble aeration process to clean and de-oil produced water while at the same time recovering non-soluble hydrocarbons for further refining. The system takes unprocessed produced water, which contains oil, solids and water—and separates this material into three distinct output streams: clean and de-oiled water, recovered oil and water-wet solids. H20Maxx makes use of a proprietary process that creates nitrogen gas micro-bubbles inside a vertical aeration tank in such a way that it generates a cyclonic affect within the tank. As the micro-bubbles and produced water interact within the aeration tank, the larger, heavier solids drop to the bottom of the vessel where they are removed as slurry. At the same time oil that is part of the produced water rises to the top of the aeration tank and then moves into an interface tank along with water, smaller solids and micro bubbles. Here the oil moves to the top of the interface tank, where the recovered concentrated oil is sent to the customer’s oil recovery tank. The treated water that remains in the interface tank is piped away to merge with treated produced water line originating from the aeration tank. The solids stream is also piped away from the interface tank, merging with the solids slurry line from the aeration tank. The nitrogen bubbles that are in the interface tank are safely vented to the atmosphere.
Based on third party validation and test results in many ways our technology is superior:
- Create equally in the fluid stream a wider range of bubbles from < 1 micron up to 100 microns which efficiently cleans the water of all ranges of oil from < 10% and all fines and ultra-fines
- Shorter retention time
- Low energy requirements
- Does not require the use of chemicals
- Operates efficiently at as low as 60C and clean to < 10ppm
DM: Wescorp leveraged open innovation and in-licensed its H20Maxx tech. What was the advantage of doing this versus designing the technology in-house?
DLeM: By having a board approach to licensing and marketing our technology, we allow potential global industry partners like a Weatherford, Schlumberger, GE and DuPont to assist in the engineering and development of our technology. It may also open up other applications we are not familiar with, and take us globally to markets where Wescorp does not have the expertise.
The sight of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is extremely disturbing, however it has brought to light an impending crisis that is related to water and how we use it. Water is a critical component of our industries, our food production and our economy as a whole. It underpins our business reality and there is tremendous opportunity to monetize its preservation. Canada is open for business and gearing up to lead the way in water.
By Dwayne Matthews
Dwayne Matthews is the Managing Director of the Clean 15.