Site selection factors, pilot testing

Before any SLS equipment of substantial size is finally selected, it is essential to use the results of pilot plant tests for guidance. Although many vendors are in a position to do such work, pilot equipment should be used at the plant site where the slurry is made. Because slurries often are unstable, tests on shipments of slurry to the vendors pilot plant may give misleading results. It may be possible to condition a test slurry to have a maximum possible resistivity, but a plant design based on such data will have an unknown safety factor and may prove uneconomical. 

For the selection of a deep-well injection process many factors are taken into account. The depth of the well is selected to avoid the contamination of fresh water and takes into consideration the nature of the underlying rock. The rock should be stronger but permeable enough to adsorb the liquid wastes. The site must be tested on a pilot scale before it is actually used. 

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