ABERDEEN oilfield environmental service company Scotoil Services is spending more than £400,000 on a pilot plant at its harbourside base for land-based disposal of oilfield scale.
The contract for the development has gone to Scott Process Technology, of Leven, in Fife. Scotoil said the pilot would allow it to test and approve the new technology, before construction of a full-size plant next year.
The pilot plant is due to go into operation this autumn.
Gordon McLellan, managing director of Scotoil, said: “Scale removal is an essential service for the North Sea oil and gas industry. This investment in a new disposal process is to enable Scotoil Services to switch from marine to land-based disposal to meet the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s deadline of October 2011.”
Scotoil is based at Miller Street and has 45 employees.
Oilfield scale results from the injection of seawater into oil reservoirs to lift the oil to the surface. The process causes naturally occurring mineral salts to build up to the point where equipment can become unusable.
Because this mineral-salt scale may contain low levels of naturally occurring radioactive material, its removal and disposal is closely monitored and regulated.