Development of an eco-sustainable solution for the second life of decommissioned oil and gas platforms:The mineral accretion technology

With the approaching end of the productive lives of offshore oil and gas platforms, the issue about decommissioning and what to do with existing structures arises. In this regard, this study aims to test solutions, at a preliminary level, for the eco-sustainable reuse of platforms at the end of their extraction phase. In particular, mineral accretion technology is applied by low-voltage electrolysis of seawater due to the precipitation of calcium carbonate on a cathode material in order to assess the protection capacity of the platforms against corrosion. This approach allows the extension of a platform’s “life” under a more sustainable purpose. The results, derived from laboratory and field experiments, will allow us to reduce uncertainties and define the best operating conditions to increase the efficiency of the mineral accretion technology in the marine ecosystem. The data collection on the main parameters that influence the process (i.e., temperature, salinity, and applied current) and the quantitative analysis of the collected material allowed us to acquire a better knowledge about mineral composition and deposition rate

The cleaner option for energy production from a municipal solid biowaste

The environmental performances of four market-available thermochemical and biochemical processes for energy production from municipal solid biowaste have been compared by means of a combined utilisation of Life Cycle Assessment and Material Flow Analysis. The thermochemical options are those of co-combustion and co-gasification with an unsorted residual municipal waste. The biochemical options are those of anaerobic digestion, with energy cogeneration from the obtained biogas or biomethane. The production of 1 MJ of primary energy from the biowaste fed to these treatment plants has been assumed as the functional unit. The study identified the life cycle stages where a specific improvement can better contribute to a remarkable increase of the environmental performances of each of the examined energy production scenarios. A sensitivity analysis investigated the effect of the local electric energy mix, taking into account its evolution until 2030. The results indicate that anaerobic digestion is the biowaste-to-energy process with the best environmental performances, particularly when energy generation is obtained from the combustion of biomethane produced by biogas upgrading (with improvements up to 167% for Global Warming Potential and up to 107% for Non-Renewable Energy Potential)

Organizer multicavo di alimentazione anodo per accrescimento carbonati

Il campo di applicazione del trovato del presente brevetto si colloca nell’ambito dei processi di protezione catodica e, contestualmente, in quelli di rinaturalizzazione di strutture a mare. Il trovato si propone come facilitatore dell’impiego del processo di accrescimento minerale per elettrolisi dell’acqua di mare su strutture metalliche sommerse esistenti. Il trovato, di seguito denominato ORANOD, consente la rapida ed economica applicazione della tecnologia di accrescimento carbonatico proprio alle strutture già esistenti. Il sistema è applicabile a strutture metalliche offshore di qualunque tipologia. Lo scopo dell’ORANOD è di realizzare un avvolgimento metallico attorno alla struttura sommersa. Sui cavi di detto avvolgimento sono disposti una serie di anodi che, sottoposti a carica elettrica opposta a quella a cui viene sottoposta la struttura metallica (che funge da catodo), consente – in prederminate condizioni di voltaggio – di far depositare i sali presenti nell’acqua di mare, creando un velo protettivo sulla struttura stessa. Il velo protettivo di sali (carbonato di calcio) presenta elevate prestazioni meccaniche. Inoltre, tale strato protettivo consente di limitare i fenomeni corrosivi della struttura metallica e, al contempo, ri-naturalizza la stessa, in quanto il materiale depositato è della stessa natura delle barriere coralline. ORANOD, dunque, aumenta il range di applicazioni della tecnologia di accrescimento minerale, facilitandone l’impiego su strutture esistenti. L’innovazione risiede nella capacità di organizzare i molteplici cavi di alimentazione degli anodi necessari (a disporsi omogeneamente lungo l’intera superficie strutturale da ri-naturalizzare) mediante un sistema modulare ed in grado di adattarsi alle più diverse tipologie strutturali marittime ed offshore

Decommissioning of Offshore Platforms in Adriatic Sea: The Total Removal Option from a Life Cycle Assessment Perspective

The international energy scenario to date is heavily based on fossil energy sources such as coal, oil or natural gas. According to the international ecological goals of the UNFCCC formalized in the legally binding treaty called the Paris Agreement, the next global challenges will be the decommissioning, dismantling or reconversion of the current fossil energy system into a new, more sustainable system that makes more efficient use of renewable energy technologies. Worldwide, there are about 6500 offshore oil and gas facilities and about 130 of them are located in the Mediterranean basin, mainly in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas: more than 110 offshore gas platforms have been installed in these areas since 1960. In this paper, using Life Cycle Assessment, the environmental and economic impacts of the total removal operations of an existing offshore platform in the context of the Adriatic Sea are assessed based on existing and registered decommissioning projects. In addition, the avoided impacts of primary steel production due to its recovery and recycling from the removed platform are assessed using the system boundary expansion method