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NOV Angola Team Rises to Meet the O!shore Zero Discharge ChallengeO!shore Angola has been a major market for NOV FluidControl for almost twenty years, with most drilling taking place far from shore in

ultra-deep waters.

For many years, accepted best practice technology was to process cuttings o!shore using VORTEX™ dryers. By reducing oil content, this

allowed cuttings to be discharged overboard. In fact, NOV’s first VORTEX Dryer job started back in the late 90’s.

Increasing environmental awareness led to the publication by MINPET (the Angolan Government’s Ministry of Petroleum) of zero discharge

regulations, meaning no overboard discharge would be allowed. The implementation of these new rules has been delayed and rescheduled

several times, but finally came into e!ect starting January 1, 2016.

The Challenge

The challenge set for the FluidControl team by the client (a major international operator) was complex: three rigs had to be provided

with a complete system to contain and transfer drilled cuttings from the rig side to dedicated supply vessels, which in turn would then

transport the cuttings onshore to be processed in the NOV Thermal Plant located at the AES site in Soyo.

To add to the challenge, each of the rigs was di!erent – one semi-submersible, one drillship and one TLP (Tension Leg Platform). On two

of the rigs, the well-proven BRANDT™ FREEFLOW™ system was used to transport the cuttings to skips on the boats, whilst a traditional

zero-discharge solution was utilised on the TLP.

Skips (rather than FREEFLOW Slider Tanks) were used on the vessels due to the location of the plant in relation to the quayside in Soyo

with consequent logistics issues. On board the two FREEFLOW rigs, Slider Tanks were used for additional contingency storage, but space

constraints on the TLP meant that skips were used there.

While FREEFLOW technology is well established internationally, new and innovative solutions were required in order to accommodate the

inclusion of eighty nine 5 tonne skips on each vessel and ensure that they could be filled safely, e!iciently and quickly.

Each supply boat was fitted with two skip filling trolleys, a distribution piping system and a track assembly so that the filling of all the

skips on the boat could be achieved in one continuous operation.

Product and Customer News Continued

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MARCH 2016

Issue 01 / Volume 12

NOV Angola Team Rises to Meet the O!shore Zero Discharge Challenge Continued

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Product and Customer News Continued

The Result

The challenge was successfully met, with all systems performing safely and e!iciently.

During the first month’s operations (January 2016) a total of 4092 metres (13,425 feet) was drilled generating 511m3 of cuttings.

By installing NOV’s FREEFLOW system on two of the rigs and supporting PSV’s as well as the Skip & Ship system on the TLP, NOV WSS has

successfully ensured that these rigs are compliant for Zero-Discharge operations in Angola.

Project Manager, Craig Turpin commented, "This was a flagship project for our company which now sees the first FREEFLOW operations

in o!shore Africa. Whilst we faced many challenges throughout the project, the hard work and dedication of our team helped ensure that

we met our client’s needs, safely and on time."

Angola Country Manager, Markus Zettel added, "The client is delighted at the incident–free performance of the equipment and NOV team.

This is a true team e!ort – our Angolan sta!, expatriate personnel, and Engineering support in Dubai and Aberdeen all contributing to this

major achievement. We now look forward to ongoing operations with our client and hope to build on the success of these installations

to increase our market share."