Integrated Waste Model For Northern Alberta Field Accommodation Facilities
Abstract
This report focuses on the potential for integrated waste management (IWM) at remote field accommodation facilities. A working model was developed to try and interconnect three (3) key waste streams currently produced at these sites: liquid wastes consisting of treated water treatment plant (WTP) and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent; solid wastes consisting of municipal solid waste (MSW) from site offices, camp rooms, and cafeterias, as well as solid sludge waste (SSW) and lime sludge from the WWTP; and gaseous wastes in the form of flue gas emissions from industrial operations. The central interconnection point for these material streams under the IWM as proposed is an on-site greenhouse system that serves as a sink for these current wastes – directly in the case of liquid and gaseous wastes, and indirectly via a composting facility for solid wastes. Using Cenovus Energy Inc.’s Kodiak Den and Silver Tip Den field accommodations as a sample facility, the absorptive capacity of the IWM for these wastes is examined. A crude economic analysis is performed and site-specific design work is shown to demonstrate the scale of the proposed IWM infrastructure in relation to existing building in-site. Preliminary results derived from an analysis of waste streams from the Kodiak and Silver Tip Dens suggest that an IWM scheme as proposed is both technically feasible and economically justifiable at the site.
The underlying goal of this project was to develop a malleable modelling tool that could be applied by any resource company operating large, remote field accommodation facilities to investigate potential ways to reduce both the operational costs and environmental footprint of these facilities. The systems approach applied here attempts to redefine exiting ‘waste’ streams as ‘material’ inputs to alternative on-site operations and ‘close the loop’ on as many material streams as possible within a given field accommodation system boundary.
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Citation
Philip, C. (2014). Integrated Waste Model For Northern Alberta Field Accommodation Facilities (Unpublished report). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.