الملخص الإنجليزي
The oil and gas industry generates a lot of solid, liquid, and gaseous waste, which
harms the environment. Oil and gas companies adapted number of waste
management techniques to reduce the environmental impacts of generated waste and
reduce the associated management cost. Spent blasts (abrasive material) is one of the
big volumes generated waste from oil and gas industry which need attention through
proper handling, storage, and disposal. Grit blast is one of the abrasive types used in
blasting activity. Grit blasting processes produce Grit Blasting Waste (GBW) that is
contaminated with various impurities, including paint, rust, and heavy metals. If such
pollutants are not properly managed, they pose a risk to the environment. Most of the
explored options to improve GBW management are not looking into the root causes
of high generation rates of GBW. It is mainly looking into recycling options after the
generation of waste. There are many techniques to explore the root causes of this
high generation rate, using process improvement and problem-solving tools.
This research focuses on exploring the possible sustainable solutions for the poor
management of grit blasting waste, utilizing six sigma process improvement and
problem-solving methodology. The study investigated the five phases of six sigma
process improvement methodology, i.e., define, measure, analyse, improve, and
control for the oil and gas company.
The research was conducted through following steps: (1) define and measure the
current condition of Grit blasting waste management, (2) analyse the collected data,
(3) identify the root causes of poor management, and (4) develop the possible
sustainable solutions to improve Grit blasting waste management in oil and gas
sector. At define phase, the GBW management defined goal statement and project
timeline. The research measured the size, scope, and level of the problem through
data collection of generated GBW afterward. It showed that the annual GBW
generation rate is increasing and accumulating in GBW storage facilities without
sustainable management. Different analysis tools (graphical and statistical) identified
the root causes of poor GBW management. The causes are - (1) difficulty in blasting
material selection: some of the wastes are not reusable, (2) different contractors
following different standards for blasting activities resulted in different quantities of
GBW, and (3) the number of reuse times of spent GB material in each location is
different. The proposed sustainable solutions for better GBW management could be
short and long-term. (1) Reusing the spent blast in blasting activities and exploring
the feasibility of reselling the GBW to the supplier can be the short-term solution. (2)
Exploring new technologies to generate less GBW and to find recycling options can
be the long-term solution.
