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2016 North American Snow Conference 5/22/2016

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Innovative Approaches to Brine -Drilling our own Brine Wells

Presenter: Darryl M Heid, P. E.

Director of Highway Maintenance

APWA North American Snow ConferenceMay 22, 2016

Where is Oakland County?

Detroit

Oakland

Genesee St ClairLapeer

Monroe

Livingston

WayneWashtenaw

Saginaw


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Quick facts about RCOC:

In 2007 RCOC had 556 employees

Today RCOC has 390 fulltime employees

RCOC is made up of 9 Departments:

Legal Planning and Environmental Concerns

Finance Customer Services

Engineering Human Resources

Traffic Safety Central Operations

Highway Maintenance

A closer look at the Maintenance Depart.

Had 180 Hourly Employees and 40 Supervisory / Administrative Employees

Currently 129 Hourly and 35 Supervisory / Administrative Employees

Is Responsible for Maintaining 2,700 Center Lane Miles of Primary and Local Roads

RCOC is also contract county with the Michigan Department of Transportation and responsible for maintaining 1,561.25 lane miles of State Trunk Line routes through Oakland County


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A closer look at the Maintenance Depart.

RCOC Brine Wells:

RCOC use to purchase brine from vendors for dust control

One vendor was located in Saginaw County while another was in the NE corner of Oakland County

RCOC employees felt they could provide a better service to the residents of Oakland County


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RCOC Brine Wells:

RCOC Brine Wells:

First well drilled 1983 Simple jack pump with a production of approximate 35 gal/min

Second well drilled in 1992 Submersible pump with a production rate of 112 gal/min

Third well drilled in 1995 Submersible pump with a production rate of 110 gal/min

Fourth well drilled in 2010 Submersible pump with a production rate of 80 gal/min


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RCOC Brine Wells:

Time and Construction:

Seven year process to get permit from MDEQ

Two years to get well fully operational


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Time and Construction:

Cost for drilling a Brine Wells:

Construction costs for fourth well: $1,100,580

Gallons of Brine Harvested and used:

Year Dust Control Winter Ops Total

2011 2,812,000 396,744 3,208,774

2012 4,161,000 179,000 4,340,000

2013 5,697,000 502,404 6,199,404

2014 6,368,000 480,462 6,848,462

2015 6,466,000 326,026 6,792,026

22,692,000 1,487,892 24,179,892


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Pre-wet and Anti-icing equipment:

Storage capabilities:

Dist No. Tanks Gallons

1 6 100,200

2 8 133,600

3 4 + 3 116,900

4 2 33,400

4S 2.5 38,800

4T 2 23,000

Total 445,900


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Cost savings to RCOC:

RCOC has calculated that the cost to bring 1 gallon of brine to the surface is $0.04

To purchase brine it would cost $0.30

Savings in production vs purchase

Overall 6,000,000 gal @ $0.26/gal = $1,560,000

Winter operations: 300,000 gal @ $0.26/gal = $78,000

Brine Well Maintenance:

Pumps are pulled approximately every 2-3 years for PM

Load pumps require rebuilding 5-7 years

Peroxide Pumps require calibration and PM

Cleaning and sealing containment areas

Recently replaced some tubing for Dist 1 and Dist 2 well

Backwash pumps reducing crystallization

The past 5 year average of maintenance is $172,630


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General makeup of the brine:

District 1 2 3

Calcium Chloride 10.1% 16.8% 14.8%

Magnesium Chloride 2.8% 3.3% 3.2%

Potassium Chloride 0.7% 1.5% 1.2%

Sodium Chloride 16.0% 6.6% 12.3%

Total Salts 29.6% 28.2% 31.5%

pH 5.37 5.77 5.64

Specific Gravity 1.189 1.197 1.220

Weight per Gallon 9.87 9.938 10.123

Operational Uses for the Brine:

Dust control – 770 miles of gravel roads 3,000 gallons per mile on primary roads

2,000 gallons per mile on local and sub-local

Gravel Roads have ADT’s in the 3,000 to 5,000 range

Winter Operations: Anti-icing – 40 gallons per lane mile

Pre-wetting – 10 gallons per ton

De-icing (gravel as well)

Automated bridge deck spray system


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Material tested and evaluated:

Mixed in additives to brine with no noticeable benefit

Performed a side by side comparison to a vendors product with the MDOT. MDOT felt the natural brine performed as good if not better than the vendors product. RCOC Natural Brine $0.11/gal vs Vendor Product $1.10/gal

Contracted outside consultant to study friction and effectiveness of winter operations. Consultant had concerns about the slickness of the natural brine but was impressed with application rate and effectiveness.

Getting “buy in” from the employees :

The use of brine has been ongoing for the past 15-20 years at RCOC.

These same employees were asked to work with the anit-icing program.


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Savings to RCOC budgets:

With the employees on board with anti-icing and pre-wetting RCOC was able to lower the application rate, reducing salt usage. Average salt usage was 82,000 tons

Current average is 65,000 tons

Salt price is $58.05/ton. Savings of nearly $986,8500.

Savings to other Local Agencies and to the public: With the low cost to harvest the brine RCOC has been able

to sell the brine to other public agencies for $0.11/gal with a minimal delivery cost added.

The dust control prices passed on to the residents was nearly $0.30/ft back in late 90’s. Today RCOC charges $0.23/ftsome 15 plus years later.


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Lessons learned:

This is not an easy program to run

Get the employees involved, challenge them and listen to them

Be open and honest with residents

Use experts in the field

In conclusion:

Drilling a Brine Well may be worth the time to investigate.

If your agency does consider this as an option seek the assistance of an expert. They know how to navigate through the red tape. Well worth the investment in their experience and knowledge.

RCOC believes that these Brine Wells have allowed operations to become more efficient increasing its LOS to the customers of Oakland County. Hopefully your agency could see the same results.


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Thank You

Email addresses: [email protected]

Questions?

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