A couple of months ago, via friends in Houston,  I was introduced to a very smart chemist and former VP of SGS.  This gentleman could have retired and never looked back but, in true entrepreneurial fashion, he wanted to create a solution to one of thorniest issues in oil gathering, blending and refining: Triazine Additives.

For those who are not familiar, Triazines are added to the intake streams at refineries, production streams (including off-shore facilities) and crude oil terminals in order to reduce the formation of Hydrogen Sulfide: a deadly gas that forms when organic matter decays and when refining processes crack oil into its constituent parts.  If you value your health and life, the last place you want to be is in a confined space in the company of even small amounts of H2S.  Recent changes to safety regulations have H2S lowered daily exposure limits to 1 ppm and short term exposure limits (STEL) of 5 ppm, for exposures no greater than 15 minutes.

So, over the course of time, Triazine (also used in pesticides) has become the default additive for the purpose of reducing or eliminating H2S in oil streams.  Until recently and despite its drawbacks, Triazine was the best we had.  Unfortunately, Triazine causes surface pitting, fouling and kills the beneficial bacteria in waste water streams – thereby adding extra costs to the refining and storage efforts, in time and materials.

What is now available a is a better mouse trap, in the form of a non-toxic, non-amine/nonaldehyde H2S scavenger that keeps treating costs at or below existing Triazine budgets.  This product will react with the H2S molecules and turn them into aqueous non-toxic sulphate salts.  The heavier sulphate salt molecule will drop out into the produced water stream…and the reaction is irreversible.   This additive will react instantaneously with H2S once contact is made. It will also react with lower chain mercaptans.

Several major tank farms, blenders and refineries in Texas are now using the product and it is being tested by international majors as we speak.  If this is of interest to you, please get in touch.