Action A1: Review of EU legislation and materials requirements for landfills construction and restoration

A review of the EU and state regulation will be held in order to determine the minimum requirements that will render the stabilized material appropriate for landfilling, the properties that are important so as to render the engineered soil appropriate for use as daily cover and liner in landfill and any possible modification that should be done to the landfill operation so as to take advantage of the new material beneficial properties.Additionally, the technical datasheets of commercial products that are used nowadays as daily cover and landfill liners (bottom and top) will be determined and reported; these technical specifications will constitute the criteria for the evaluation of the project’s products and the selection of the optimum proposed solution.

Action A2: Design of pilot plan site

The design of the pilot scale stabilization unit will be held. The unit must be capable to apply the stabilization technology in large scale so proper design of the pilot plant is of great importance. Also infrastructure and peripherals of the system will be designed and dimensioned.

Action B1: Collection of oil wastes and preparation of stabilizers

Industrial minerals will be used as stabilizers for stabilization of oil waste. Since all industrial minerals are naturally occurring materials, their chemistry, mineralogy and physical characteristic are varying among different mineral deposits, influencing thus their effectiveness. It is thus vital to try several grades of each material in terms of the attained physicochemical properties in order to determine the optimum ones (as far as effectiveness and cost are concerned). Then, the chosen raw materials will be characterized and the appropriate processes will be applied so as to develop various minerals grades that will be used as stabilizers in the next action.

Action B2: Lab-scale neutralization/stabilization experiments

The performance of various industrial minerals qualities will be evaluated in laboratory scale experiments in terms of their sorption stability and capacity, in order to determine the industrial minerals qualities that are more effective for use as PRS stabilizers (Fig_C1_B2_1). Furthermore, the grades of each stabilizer will compose blends of industrial minerals in various proportions (w/w) and will be subjected to sorption experiments in order to determine the optimum stabilizer formulation in terms of industrial minerals proportion. Also during this experimental campaign the optimization of PRS stabilization process will be performed in terms of mixing method (vertical or horizontal Extruder, Kneader, Mix Muller),time, moisture level, viscosity and mixing intensity. The goal will be: a) the maximum dispersion of the ingredient that provides plasticity and chemisorption in some industrial minerals), b) the porous in other industrial minerals granules should remain intact to provide physisorption and good flowability of the final blend, and c) the maximum possible homogeneity.

Action B3: Scale-up of stabilization technology; Pilot-plant waste stabilization at oil refinery site

A pilot scale industrial installation will be constructed in order to process the PRS and produce the VSM, according to the methods and flowsheet developed in Action B2. The construction of the pilot plant will be done according to pilot plant design that will be held in Action A2.The stabilization technology will be demonstrated in pilot scale at MOH refineries plant. The operation will be implemented at the pilot plant scoping the production of stabilized mixture in large scale. This material will be used for the production of the Engineered Soil that will be used in Action B4.

Action B4: Scale-up of stabilization technology; Pilot-plant trials at landfill site

A pilot scale application of the material produced in Action B3 as landfill construction and restoration material will be held. Various qualities of the Engineered Soil will be prepared on-site and used in different landfill development steps, i.e. as cover material, as daily cove and as bottom liner. Characterization analyses will be held in collected samples in order to evaluate the performance of each layer.

Action C1: Monitoring of the project impact

Data and information collection during the LIFE DIANA project will be carried out throughout the experimental operations and testing, and will be used for a continuous monitoring of the pilot activities and their results. Data collection will include both data from the experimental trials stage and data from the pilot plants.Starting from the outcomes of the pilot evaluation, an assessment of the environmental and social impacts will be performed, in order to evaluate the potential impacts of the developed technology in terms of social and economic indicators.

Action C2: Business model development and transferability evaluation

The Business Model will include cost factors analysis, estimation of capital investment, total stabilization cost, profitability analysis and market analysis.The Transferability Evaluation will include transferability and replication activities on three dimensions: location (i.e. oil refineries location vs. minerals availability – logistics), sludges chemistry and local legislation.

Action C3: Life Cycle Assessment / Life-Cycle Cost Analysis

The evaluation of the LIFE DIANA project in terms of its environmental impact will be performed through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The impact will be considered for the entire value chain from oil sludge production to its use as a functional material in landfills.The evaluation of the products in terms of their economic performance over their entire life will be done through the project DIANA Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA).

Action D1: Dissemination Planning and execution

This Action includes the development and dispersion of the dissemination and communication pack project, i.e. the project website, media campaign, LIFE notice boards, Layman´s report, project leaflets and videos.All partners will also actively engage in networking with other completed or ongoing projects in the same areas of interest.

Action D2: Information and awareness raising

The Action include the information and awareness-raising for the general public, i.e. the distribution of project leaflets, press releases, local awareness, publications in local media and the final conference of the project.Also, information and awareness-raising for specific audience is foreseen, including presentations at international conferences and to specific interest groups.

Action E1: Overall Project Management

This Action oversees the effective implementation of the project and the communication, through formal reporting with the EC.

Action E2: Project Monitoring

It includes the project monitoring through regular meetings of Action leaders and the calculation of progress monitoring indicators in order to facilitate the evaluation of the project’s implementation.An After-Life Plan will be issued in order to disseminate the results of LIFE DIANA after its contractual end.