Amiad's Filtration for Underground Storage Project Moves to Next Stage
The company is providing an advanced industrial self-cleaning solution to a liquid hydrocarbon storage facility in France.
Amiad Filtration Systems, a provider of water filtration technologies, has completed the first stage of its salt leaching brine filtration system at an underground liquid hydrocarbon storage facility in France. Performance testing and operation in real conditions is now under way.
The entire project – including initial studies, construction, installation and maintenance – is projected at a cost of €6 million.
“This underground facility is one of the largest and most strategic oil reserves in France,” said Bruno Jauneaud, general manager of Amiad Europe. “We are very pleased to have been selected to provide the facility with our most advanced industrial self-cleaning filtration solution, which is designed to specifically meet the demanding needs of the oil and gas industry, a challenge that Amiad is uniquely qualified to overcome."
The underground facility consists of stored liquid hydrocarbons, including crude oil, gasoline and fuel, in 27 salt-leached caverns, and has a capacity of 7.5 million cubic meters.
To create these underground caverns, it is necessary to filter salt leaching brine down to 3 micron (300gtrs per liter of salt) and remove total suspended solids (TSS), to comply with the maximum 10mg/L of TSS content allowed for injection into the sea.
Amiad’s solution was selected for the following features:
- chemical-free filtration solution, as the cavern is located in a protected natural forest;
- waste-free filtration process, the filter’s flush water is recycled during the leaching process; and
- Outdoor installation, the system is able to withstand extreme temperatures (-25 °C to 40°C), and avoids the cost of erecting a facility to house it.
This installation is the third significant brine leaching application supplied by Amiad, and follows installations at Pine Prairie Energy Center, LLC in Louisiana and SG Resources Mississippi LLC in Mississippi.
Founded in 1962, the company is headquartered in Kibbutz Amiad, Israel.