Waste management specialist Augean, true to its objectives of driving innovation and increased sustainability, will unveil its new automated tubular decontamination unit at its Blackdog site to customers, industry leaders, and other stakeholders this coming week.
Augean has invested £750,000 in upgrading its Blackdog facilities, enhancing its specialist infrastructure to deliver the highest level of environmental protection for treating and recovering offshore wastes.
Through its sites in Aberdeen, Augean has a strong track record in providing services for environmentally sound decommissioning and disposal of waste materials, including Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM), to a range of clients that ensure offshore equipment and any waste materials arising are handled compliantly in the most sustainable way.
NORM waste commonly arises through drilling processes, and while the material’s radiation levels are often little more than the background radiation levels present in the natural environment, they still need to be managed properly.
Augean commissioned engineering specialists Taylor Engineering & Son, who, in conjunction with an Augean project team, have met the challenges of developing a bespoke decontamination system that is fully automated for operator safety and yields impressive results with non-man entry into the decontamination chamber.
To avoid contaminating clean tubulars, there are separate entry and exit points for contaminated and decontaminated tubulars. Clean materials are sent to a metal recycler, and the metal is either recycled or reused in the construction industry for pilings, which positively contributes to the circular economy. Even the container housing for the decontamination unit was re-purposed from another Augean site and upcycled in one of the brand colours.
Peter Marioni, Chief Operating Officer for Augean North East Scotland, said, “We are really excited by what the new decontamination unit will be able to offer existing and new customers. This underlines our approach to stop looking at decommissioning as a waste material handling challenge and instead to look at it as an opportunity to recover valuable material resources.”
