Remediation of oil-based drill cuttings using low-temperature thermal desorption

Drill cuttings are generated during the exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas. Due to the use of oil-based muds (OBMs) during drilling process, large amounts of oil-based drill cuttings (OBDCs) are produced. Such hazardous waste contains a relatively high content of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs). The effective removal of PHCs from OBDCs has attracted widespread attention since oil contaminants have severe impacts on the plant and animal ecosystem including human health (e.g., carcinogenesis and mutagenesis). Low-temperature thermal desorption (LTTD) treatment which both achieves relatively complete PHCs removal and keeps soil health at the maximum extent represent a feasible and promising method for the remediation of OBDCs. In this study, a bench-scale apparatus was used for the LTTD treatment of OBDCs with different PHCs contents... .