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TRANSCRIPT
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?