Trees absorb carbon dioxide from

hassan jannah, computer operations specialist the atmosphere, so planting more

of them is one way to reduce
pollution.
As the world’s largest producer of oil, Saudi Aramco relies on a wide
range of professionals to ensure that its operations run smoothly.
CHAPTER 6 | Energy to the World

Twenty-six-year-old Hassan Jannah is one of those people. As a

computer operations specialist in the company’s EXPEC Computer
Center, Jannah is a key link between field operations and Saudi Aramco’s
headquarters in Dhahran.

Jannah was born in the Eastern Province but raised in Jiddah. After
finishing high school, he returned to the Eastern Province after
enrolling in Saudi Aramco’s College Preparatory Program (CPP) in 2001.
Jannah then went on to successfully study computer engineering at the
University of Manchester, UK.
above: “My work environment is
When Jannah first joined Saudi Aramco, he worked in IT support in the very challenging,” says Jannah.
Human Resources Department. His talent was soon recognized, and “We have to come up with
within two years of being at the company he was working on one of the solutions to problems pretty
largest computer network upgrade projects undertaken by the EXPEC fast—so we’re certainly kept on
Computer Center. our toes.”

Jannah now makes sure that field engineers are given the right
technical support to produce crucial assessments of oil wells.

“I support engineers and managers in making operational and

strategic business decisions by providing them access to reports on the
performance of the wells. These reports are shown to everyone from
above: Reintroducing mangrove
company managers to the Ministry of Petroleum,” he said.

CHAPTER 7
seedlings back into their natural habit
is just one way that Saudi Aramco cares
Jannah believes his current role enables him to positively affect and
for the environment. below: Engines
shape the future of Saudi Arabia.
are powered by the energy created from PROTECTING PEOPLE
burning fuel. However, pollution can be
62 “I know what I do is affecting the economy of the country and I am also
helping to save the company money. This gives me great satisfaction— emitted during that process. AND THE ENVIRONMENT
I’m positively contributing to my country.”

Jannah has completed numerous company sponsored training Leaving a Lighter Environmental Footprint
programs but also believes having initiative is crucial for professional
development and success. There are many environmental, health and safety challenges facing the
petroleum industry. When petroleum products are used for fuel, it means
“People should be prepared to learn by themselves. I got my technical they are burned, which creates the energy we use to power machines,
skills through a combination of training and self-learning. You have to
invest in yourself and push yourself professionally.” such as car engines, generators and even the tankers that carry the
petroleum. During the energy-creating process, petroleum gives off
a number of substances—such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
nitrogen compounds, sulfur compounds and fine particles of soot.

CHAPTER 7 | Protecting People and the Environment
above: Saudi Aramco participates in
carbon management research and in
organizing international conferences
for petroleum producers, academic
researchers, technology developers and
others who seek ways to reduce the
amount of carbon dioxide emitted into
the atmosphere.
64
Do you remember what takes place during refining? Refining (the
last step in turning crude oil into petroleum products) is when the
different components of crude oil are separated from each other. Earlier,
you learned about all of the different hydrocarbons within crude oil
(remember the illustration of hydrocarbon chains and their end products
in Chapter 1?), and how each can be used to create different products.
That is why petroleum is such a valuable resource. But just like the other
steps in oil production you’ve learned about, refining has challenges. One
is the fact that it creates solid and liquid toxic waste products that must
be disposed of in ways that are safe for both people and the environment.
Saudi Aramco has long been committed to finding the best ways to
safeguard both the environment and the health of its workers.
Carbon Capture and
Storage
You probably know that global
warming is the gradual warming
of the earth due to the buildup of
gases (called greenhouse gases) in
the atmosphere. The gases cover
the earth like a blanket, trapping
some of the heat that would
otherwise escape the atmosphere.
Although it might not appear
this way, buildings and power
plants emit over 15 percent more
carbon dioxide than do motor
vehicles. Therefore, one of the key
goals of environmental scientists
has been to develop ways to
capture and store the carbon
dioxide emitted from these “fixed
sources”(meaning they don’t
move)—in particular, power
plants and manufacturing plants.
Until recently, the most promising method for capturing carbon dioxide
involved using either chemical or physical “scrubbers” to collect carbon
dioxide within the plants, either at the same time or right after the
fuel is burned. The collected carbon dioxide is compressed and then
injected into underground geological formations including oil and gas
reservoirs. As petroleum is removed from a reservoir, there is room for
CHAPTER 7 | Protecting People and the Environment
carbon dioxide to be injected. In addition, the injection of carbon dioxide
maintains the reservoir pressure, pushing even more petroleum to the
surface. The use of carbon dioxide for reservoir pressure can replace the
traditional use of natural gas and water for this purpose. above: Petroleum often reaches
refineries, such as this one in Riyadh, still
containing toxins that must be removed
Saudi Aramco established its own dedicated Carbon Management Team before the petroleum is ready to be used
in 2006, whose job it is to research, develop and put into practice new by consumers.
methods for managing and reducing carbon dioxide emissions—both
within the company and around the world.
Sulfur Recovery
In Chapter 5, you learned that there can be a high concentration of sulfur
in crude oil. And even when it isn’t combined with hydrogen (which has
toxic and corrosive results), sulfur is a problem. Just as eating unhealthy
food can slow people down, sulfur mixed in with gasoline or diesel
creates unhealthy fuel for the engines of vehicles. And perhaps even more
important is the fact that if petroleum products contain sulfur, they will
release sulfur dioxide when they are burned. Sulfur dioxide is a colorless,
odorless gas that can cause respiratory problems in people and animals.
It can also mix with water vapor in the atmosphere to cause acid rain, 65
which damages plants and makes streams and lakes too acidic for fish
and other organisms to survive in them.
For all these reasons, it is important for petroleum refineries to remove as
much sulfur as possible from their products. You may be thinking about
the sweetening process that takes place during stabilization. And you’d be
right. A portion of the sulfur is removed in the sweetening process, but above: Acid rain can have harmful
effects on not only the natural world, but
usually not all of it. Crude oil often arrives at the refinery still containing
also buildings and statues of historic or
some dissolved sulfur. Removal techniques vary depending on what kind cultural significance.
of fuel is being produced, but they generally take place during refining.
 left above: Chromium (seen here) is
an example of a heavy metal that can
be found in the waste produced during
refining. Lead, nickel and vanadium
are others. left below: Certain plants
(particularly sunflowers), some types
of mustard plant and grasses (such as
CHAPTER 7 | Protecting People and the Environment

CHAPTER 7 | Protecting People and the Environment

fescue), can absorb large quantities of
heavy metals and store them in their
root systems and leaves. Grasses such
as fescue and Bermuda grass are able to
interact chemically with hydrocarbons in
the soil, converting them to nontoxic or
chemically inactive substances.

left: After hydrocarbons enter the

desulfurization unit, a catalyst is
added to separate the sulfur from the
hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons are
then collected for further use, while the
sulfur mixes with hydrogen gas to form
hydrogen sulfide. The hydrogen sulfide
moves into another reactor where the
sulfur itself is recovered.

Governments around the world began to place restrictions on sulfur

dioxide emissions as early as the 1970s, and the trend has grown. In the Soil and Water Contamination
2000s, some governments began to require that the petroleum used in Another challenge of the refining process is that hydrocarbons and waste
66 67
motor vehicles be more than 99.9 percent sulfur free. Saudi Aramco products could make their way out into the surrounding environment—
has invested a good deal of time and money into implementing new from a leaky storage tank, a pipeline rupture or any number of other
processes to remove sulfur more efficiently and more thoroughly. causes. The hydrocarbons may be in the form of crude oil, natural gas

above: The sulfur that is recovered is

compressed into pellets, which can be
used to manufacture fertilizer and
other products. left: In 2007, Saudi
Aramco was at work developing a new
pre-refining process to desulfurize crude
oil. The mounds of sulfur here show just
how much sulfur can be recovered.
or some other combination of atoms. The wastes include poisonous
compounds such as ammonia and hydrogen cyanide, and heavy metals,
which, in high concentrations, can be toxic to people and animals.
One fuel that does not follow
the typical process of having Researchers in Saudi Aramco’s Environmental Protection Department
the remaining sulfur removed have found several strategies for either preventing contamination in the
during refining is heavy fuel oil,
the oil that is burned to create
first place or, if it does occur, for restoring the environmental balance.
energy in power plants. This This is called environmental remediation.
petroleum product is generally
desulfurized by “scrubbers,”
which collect the waste gas and
strip the sulfur out of it.
 For soil contamination, one of the most promising remedies is called
phytoremediation. Phyto is a Greek word-root that means “plant,” and science experiment: photosynthesis at work
phytoremediation uses plants to draw hydrocarbons and heavy metals
out of the soil. Plants are an incredible key to keeping the environment clean, which is evident in the way they absorb
pollutants that end up in the soil. But did you know they also help absorb pollutants from the air? Earlier,
It would be extremely difficult and expensive to clean up contaminated you read about carbon dioxide. Plants help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by
CHAPTER 7 | Protecting People and the Environment

water if it were to leak back into the environment. Therefore, oil absorbing it and using it in photosynthesis, which is the process by which plants use sunlight to turn
companies purify the oily wastewater that comes from refinery processes carbon dioxide and water into food. Try this experiment to see just how important this process is for
before it is released. Saudi Aramco has adapted its water treatment plants’ survival.
processes to purify several different types of wastewater.

what you’ll need: 5. See what happens when a plant (or

• A plant-care book, or the help of an part of a plant) doesn’t get any light:
1 2 adult a. Cut 3 paper shapes 5 cm. by 5 cm.
• Some household plants Circles and triangles work well,
During the primary and secondary oil/water separation phases, the raw influent During the biological treatment
• Plant fertilizer but you can experiment with other
(which consists of the oily wastewater) is put through a series of filters that phase, organic contaminants are
• A journal shapes, too.
separate the oil and water. The solid waste that is removed during these phases is removed using polymers or carbon
• Paper b. Clip them to the leaves of a plant,
sent to a separate unit to be safely disposed. filters.
• Scissors preferably one with large leaves.
Either an indoor or an outdoor plant
Raw
Influent will do. Be very careful not to damage
To Disposal/
Oil Recovery the plant.
3. Place the rest of the plants near a
1. Look in a plant-care book, or ask a c. Leave one paper cutout on for 1 day,
Solids
window and water them each week
Handling grown-up, to find out how much a second on for 2 days, and a third on
for several weeks. Fertilize some of
Secondary water each plant needs. Some may for a week.
Oil/Water
the plants but not others during this
1 Separation
need to be watered more than others.
time. Label the ones you fertilized.
Primary Oil/Water
Separation 2

4. Record the following in your journal

for those plants that got fertilized
and for those that didn’t:

Biological
Treatment

68 4
Biological
Clarification

3
Tertiary
Treatment

How long does it take for the plant to

Treated
Effluent
3 4
Biological clarification is the further cleansing of the wastewater. During this Finally, toxic compounds such as
phase, the remaining oil and organic compounds are removed by adding ammonia and hydrogen cyanide are
microorganisms that will eat them. removed by adding chlorine.
2. Take two clippings from one plant. react? How long does it take for the plant
Put one in a glass of water. Put the to return to normal?
other one in a glass with no water.
Check each day to see how long the The relationship of plants to their
one without water can survive. surrounding environment is interesting
Did any of the plants start to droop? and unique. Plants help clean and
Did any of the plants have yellow leaves maintain a healthy environment, and
that fell off? in return, nature provides the elements
Did the plants grow toward the light? plants need to stay healthy themselves.

CHAPTER 7 | Protecting People and the Environment
top: Various departments within the
company have oil spill response teams
that participate in extra emergency
training. above: Booms can be lowered
into the water to prevent oil slicks from
spreading. Saudi Aramco keeps large
numbers of booms and other cleanup
equipment at several of its terminals,
for quick use if they are needed. bottom:
Reefs and other underwater obstructions
can tear the hulls of tankers, which
causes the oil to leak out (double-hulled
tankers help prevent this problem).
70
Oil Spills science experiment: dispersants in action
An oil spill at sea can be a devastating environmental disaster. Oil spills
occur very rarely, and most are very small. But an oil spill can cause the Saudi Aramco does everything it can to prevent oil spills from occurring. You already learned about the
immediate death of marine organisms including fish, whales, waterbirds, use of dispersants to break up larger oil slicks into smaller droplets, now you can see it in action on a
otters, crustaceans, plankton and other microorganisms, and marine smaller scale.
plants and coral reefs. And if the spills are not properly cleaned up, the
effects may continue to be felt for years afterward. Accidents at offshore what you’ll need:
oil wells or breaks in undersea pipelines can also result in oil spills. • Bowl filled halfway with water
• Vegetable oil
• Liquid soap or dishwashing detergent
Saudi Aramco has a detailed program that lays out the necessary steps to 2. Pour a few drops of the liquid soap or
be taken in response to an oil spill. The company has special pollution- detergent into the circle of oil.
1. Pour a small amount of the vegetable
control ships, which are equipped with floating barriers called booms,
as well as tanks to store the oil that is recovered by oil skimmers. Oil
skimmers are designed in a range of shapes, from belts to disks to barrels.
When placed in water, they can remove the oil that floats on the surface
because they are made of materials to which oil will stick. In this way,
they skim oil off of the water’s surface. The company also owns planes
that can spray dispersants, chemicals that break up the oil into small
droplets, which will decay more quickly than a single, thick oil slick.
oil into the bowl filled with water. What happens? Did you see the oil
Notice how the oil forms one big 3. Swirl the solution around inside the breaking up into smaller droplets? The
circle on top of the water. bowl. chemicals in the detergent are able to
disperse the oil molecules so they can’t
stick together in one big slick. Oil-
spill cleanup teams employ this same
technique when cleaning up large slicks
in the ocean.
 a web of life

A mangrove swamp is a remarkable thing. It is a collection of trees and shrubs that thrives in
shallow, saltwater environments in tropical or sub-tropical zones of the world (such as Saudi
Arabia, or the U.S. city of Miami).

Petroleum is a nonrenewable
resource. This fact has driven
the company’s efforts to be wise
stewards of Saudi Arabia’s precious
natural resources. To this end, Saudi
Aramco actively practices and
promotes conservation efforts and
The dense, tangled roots of the plants make perfect conducts research that will one day
habitats for oysters, shrimp, barnacles, algae and other lead to more efficient combustible
organisms that feed by filtering nutrients out of the silty engine technology.
water. The filter-feeders become food for other animals,
creating an intricate food chain. Shrimping is a big industry
along Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast, and maintaining a healthy
habitat for shrimp among the mangroves is important.
Mangroves are important for other reasons as well. For
example, the roots of mangroves absorb heavy metal pollutants, cleaning up water that may
have been contaminated by industrial waste. CHAPTER 8 below: The growth of cities has helped
Mangrove swamps are native to parts of the Saudi Arabian coastline, along both the Arabian TURNING CHALLENGES INTO fuel the demand for petroleum. Think of
Gulf and the Red Sea. But in the second half of the 20th century, many of Saudi Arabia’s how much it takes to build and maintain
mangroves were lost to coastal development. In 1990, Saudi Aramco, in partnership OPPORTUNITIES a modern city.
with the government of Saudi Arabia, began to rebuild the mangrove population
along the Gulf coast. By 2009, this program has resulted in the planting of
more than 40,000 mangroves. Meeting the Demand
top: Saudi Aramco has involved local groups and citizens—including school groups Remember the list of products made from petroleum in Chapter 1?
and Boy Scout troops from Ras Tanura, Jubail and Dhahran—in rebuilding the Look around your house or room—what else do you think is made from
mangroves. In doing so, the company is helping the people of the Kingdom to petroleum? How many objects are made of plastic? What if there was no
gain a deeper awareness of the importance of a healthy environment. above
and left: Several species of crabs, shrimp and fish feed on the filter-feeding
more plastic? How many objects would disappear? Worldwide demand
organisms, so mangrove swamps become a natural habitat for these for petroleum products has increased steadily over the past hundred
creatures and many species of birds as well. background: Mangrove roots years, and shows no signs of slowing down.
also help to prevent coastal erosion by collecting sediment and holding
soil in place.