Tank Bottom Sludge Removal in the GCC: Selecting a SupaVac Pump for Crude Oil and Refinery Tanks

Removing free liquid from a storage tank is often the easy part.

The harder stage begins when the remaining material consists of heavy oil sludge, settled solids, sand, scale and other tank-bottom residue that no longer behaves like an ordinary liquid.

For refineries, terminals, tank-cleaning contractors and industrial maintenance teams across the GCC, the practical question is not simply how quickly a pump can move liquid. It is whether the equipment can recover difficult sludge from the tank floor and transfer it reliably to the required receiving point.

At Takmeel Global, this is the type of application where we evaluate SupaVac air-operated solids vacuum pumps.

Why Tank-Bottom Sludge Requires Different Pumping Equipment

Material accumulating at the bottom of crude-oil, fuel and petrochemical tanks can vary considerably.

A tank may contain combinations of:

• oily sludge;
• sediment;
• sand;
• rust or scale;
• water;
• heavy hydrocarbon residue;
• solids-laden process waste.

The upper layer may still flow relatively easily while the settled material beneath it can be considerably denser and more difficult to recover.

This means selecting equipment only from a nominal flow-rate requirement can lead to the wrong pump.

For tank-bottom sludge removal, the more important questions are:

• What exactly is the material?
• How much solid content is present?
• What is the largest expected solid?
• How viscous or dense is the sludge?
• How far must it be suctioned?
• How far and how high must it then be discharged?
• What compressed-air supply is available?

The answers determine the pumping system.

SupaVac Applications in Tank Cleaning

SupaVac officially lists tank cleaning/desludging, petrochemical tank cleaning, oil sludge and tank-bottom residue transfer, heavy crude transfer and slops sump cleaning among its oil and gas applications.

The operating principle is different from that of a conventional centrifugal pump.

SupaVac units use compressed air to generate vacuum for material recovery and pressure for discharge. This makes the technology relevant where sludge contains significant solids or where settled residue becomes difficult to move with equipment intended mainly for conventional liquids.

Crude Oil Tank-Bottom Sludge

Crude storage tanks can gradually accumulate sediment and sludge.

When tanks are prepared for cleaning, inspection or maintenance, this residue must be recovered and moved out of the work area.

The challenge may include:

• viscous oil sludge;
• solids settled for long periods;
• variable consistency across the tank floor;
• vertical suction requirements;
• long hose runs;
• restricted access;
• remote discharge locations.

SupaVac’s SV510, for example, specifically lists oil sludge and tank-bottom residue transfer, tank cleaning and sludge extraction, and heavy crude transfer among its applications.

The manufacturer also lists tank cleaning and sludge extraction for the portable SV60-V2.

These are application references—not a recommendation that either model is automatically correct for every tank.

Actual model selection must follow the sludge characteristics and duty conditions.

Refinery and Petrochemical Tank Cleaning

Tank cleaning during refinery or petrochemical maintenance often sits inside a larger shutdown programme.

If sludge removal becomes slow or unreliable, it can delay subsequent cleaning, inspection or maintenance activities.

A suitable transfer system therefore needs to be evaluated around the complete job:

Tank floor → suction hose → pump → discharge hose → receiving point

rather than treating pumping as an isolated activity.

SupaVac’s SV250V is specifically listed for petrochemical tank cleaning and heavy crude transfer, with 100 mm suction and discharge connections and manufacturer-rated capacity exceeding 60 m³/hr at SG1.0 under stated conditions.

Actual sludge-transfer rate will depend on the material, air supply, suction lift, hose configuration and discharge conditions.

Slops, Pits and Associated Oily Waste

Tank-cleaning work frequently generates more than one waste stream.

Slops, oily residues and solids can collect in pits, sumps or temporary receiving areas.

SupaVac’s published oil and gas applications include slops sump cleaning and hazardous-waste recovery in addition to tank desludging.

For contractors dealing with several difficult material-transfer points during a shutdown, this versatility can be commercially useful because the same pumping principle can potentially be evaluated for multiple sludge and solids-handling duties.

A Documented SupaVac Tank-Cleaning Application

SupaVac has published a tank-cleaning case involving Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering.

During the demonstration, an SV110-V was used to suction sludge and discharge the waste through approximately 30 metres of vertical hose. Following the trial, the equipment was subsequently selected for FPSO storage-tank desludging and cleaning.

This is useful evidence because it demonstrates an actual transfer challenge rather than simply making a general marketing claim about tank-cleaning performance.

However, the result belongs to that specific documented application. It should not be interpreted as a guarantee that every tank-cleaning project will achieve the same transfer distance or performance.

Which SupaVac Models May Be Relevant?

There is no single “tank cleaning SupaVac.”

SV30

The SV30 is a compact air-operated solids pump. SupaVac officially lists tank cleaning and tank-sludge extraction among its applications. It can be relevant where access and portability are major considerations.

SV60-V2

The SV60-V2 is a portable solids/slurry pump with tank cleaning and sludge extraction listed among its official applications. SupaVac publishes a throughput of up to 27 m³/hr at SG1.0, with 75 mm suction/discharge and solids handling up to 50 mm.

SV110-V2

The SV110-V2 is a larger mobile sludge pump suited to demanding sludge and solids duties. A SupaVac-documented tank-cleaning trial used an SV110-V to recover sludge and discharge it through a 30 m vertical hose.

SV250V

The SV250V is intended for heavier sludge-transfer duties and specifically includes petrochemical tank cleaning and heavy crude transfer among its applications.

SV510

For larger heavy-duty solids-transfer applications, the SV510 specifically lists oil sludge and tank-bottom residue transfer, tank cleaning/sludge extraction and heavy crude transfer.

The correct selection depends on the job—not simply the tank size.

Why Compressed-Air Availability Must Be Checked First

SupaVac pumps are pneumatically operated.

For that reason, the compressor cannot be treated as an afterthought.

Before selecting a pump, the project team should establish:

• available air pressure;
• available free-air delivery;
• compressor location;
• air-hose size and length;
• expected duty cycle.

For example, SupaVac publishes an air requirement of approximately 150 cfm at 85–100 psi for the SV60-V2, whereas larger configurations such as the SV250V can operate with considerably higher air-flow requirements depending on the selected jet pack.

The pump and compressor therefore need to be treated as one operating system.

Can SupaVac Reduce Dependence on Vacuum Trucks?

In some applications, SupaVac can provide another method for extracting and transferring sludge.

That does not mean a SupaVac pump universally replaces a vacuum truck.

A vacuum truck combines vacuum recovery with mobile waste storage and road transport. SupaVac performs a different role: vacuum recovery and pressure transfer through a hose system.

Where a contractor already has an appropriate receiving tank, skip, treatment system or waste-transfer arrangement, a portable air-operated vacuum pump may reduce the need to position a vacuum truck directly beside every extraction point.

The economics should therefore be calculated around the actual project.

Information Takmeel Needs to Review Your Application

For a meaningful preliminary pump assessment, send us:

Tank/application:
Crude tank, fuel tank, petrochemical tank, slops tank, pit or other application.

Material:
Oil sludge, heavy crude residue, sediment, mixed sludge, etc.

Approximate solids percentage:

Maximum solids size:

Specific gravity:

Viscosity, if known:

Temperature:

Horizontal suction distance:

Vertical suction lift:

Horizontal discharge distance:

Vertical discharge elevation:

Required transfer capacity:

Available compressed-air pressure and capacity:

Area classification, where applicable:

Photographs or video of the actual material can also help us understand the application.

SupaVac Tank-Sludge Solutions from Takmeel Global

Takmeel Global is based in Dubai and is listed within SupaVac’s official distribution network.

We support customers evaluating SupaVac equipment for sludge, slurry and difficult solids-transfer requirements across the GCC.

If your requirement involves crude-oil tank-bottom sludge, petrochemical tank cleaning, oily residue, slops or heavy industrial sludge, send us the application details rather than selecting a pump only by capacity.

Our objective is to establish the actual material, transfer distance, air availability and site conditions first—and then identify the SupaVac configuration that best fits the duty.

Takmeel Global General Trading LLC
Dubai, UAE
Mobile: +971 52 692 2575
Office: +971 4 256 4920
Email: info@takmeeltrading.com
Web: www.takmeeltrading.com