CHAPTER 2.1: Managing and Treatment of Produced Water

CHAPTER 2.
1: Managing and
Treatment of Produced Water
CHAPTER 2: UPSTREAM POLLUTION PREVENTION AND WASTE
MANAGEMENT
Course Outcomes
1. Explain the impacts of the generated wastes from the major sectors of oil and gas
industry to the environment and human health.
2. Discuss the benefits of pollution prevention and waste management techniques

in oil and gas industry according to the three P’s of sustainability (People, Planet,
Profit).
3. Justify the choice of appropriate pollution control measures based on the type of
waste as well as adhering to the Environmental Quality Act (2012) and its related
regulations.
CGE686/Chapter 1.2/PNFMK 2
To understand the environmental
impact of produced water, drilling
muds and drilling cuttings, and flaring.
To identify the ways to minimize the

Learning outcomes generation of upstream waste.
(LO) for Chapter 2
To identify on the suitable pollution

control technology for upstream
waste.
Produced water
• Also known as
• Brine
• Saltwater
• Sources of this water from an oil reservoir may include flow from
• above or below the hydrocarbon zone
• within the hydrocarbon zone
• injected fluids and additives resulting from production activities
• Also known as “connote water” or “formation water”
Volume
Source: US National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL),
2015
Produced water production volume

Water to oil ratio
• US National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) reports

• US – 5:1 and 8:1
• Worldwide – 2:1 and 3:1
• BCC research (market research company based in the US)
• North America – increase in the ratio over next 12 years to 12:1 up to 50:1
(worst condition)
• Producers need to pay between $3 and $12 per barrel to dispose of produced
water
Why volume of produced water is important for O&G industry?
• The cost of managing produced water is a significant factor in the profitability of oil
and gas production.
• The cost of constructing treatment and disposal facilities, including equipment
acquisitions
• The cost of operating those facilities, including chemical additives and utilities
• The cost of managing any residuals or byproducts resulting from the treatment of
produced water
• Permitting, monitoring, and reporting costs
• Transportation costs.
Once these cost exceeds the value of the hydrocarbon produced from the well, the well
is usually shut down.
Method of well
drilling
Location of well
Underground in homogenous
communications or heterogenous
reservoirs
Factors affecting
Volume of
production
Different types
Poor mechanical
integrity produced of well
completion
volume of
water
produced water
Water injection
Single zone and
or water
commingled
flooding for EOR
Type of water
separation Fakhru’l-Razi A. et al., Review of technologies for oil and gas
technologies produced water treatment, 2009, Journal of Hazardous
Materials, 170, pp. 530 -551.
Characteristics / Compounds in
Produced Water
Characteristics of produced water
• The major compounds of produced water

1. Dissolved and dispersed oil compounds
2. Dissolved formation minerals
3. Production chemical compounds
4. Production of solids
5. Dissolved gases
1. Dissolved and dispersed oil compounds
• Oil is a mixture of hydrocarbon which include

• Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX)
• Naphthalene, phenantherene, dibenzothiophene (NPD)
• Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Phenols
• The amount depends on
• Oil composition
• pH, salinity, total dissolve solids (TDS), temperature
• Oil/water ratio
• Type and quantity of oilfield chemicals
• Type and quantity of various stability compounds (waxes, asphaltenes, fine solids)
2. Dissolved formation minerals
1. Anions – Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Ba2+, Sr2+, Fe2+ Affect the water chemistry:
buffering capacity, salinity
2. Cations – Cl-, SO42-, CO32-, HCO3- and scale potential
3. Heavy metals – concentration depends on the age of wells and formation
geology.
• Cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver and zinc
4. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM)
• 226radium & 228radium
• Barium
3. Production chemical components
• Chemicals that are added to treat or prevent operational problems.

• Production treating chemicals – scale and corrosion inhibitors, biocides, emulsion
breakers, antifoam and water treatment chemicals.
• Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS)
• Alkyldimethlybenzenylammonium compounds
• 2-alkyl-1-ethylamine-2-imidazolines
4. Production solids
• Formation solids
• Corrosion and scale products
• Bacteria
• Waxes
• Asphaltenes
• Inorganic crystalline substances such SiO2, Fe2O3, Fe3O4 and BaSO4 are found in
the suspended solids
5. Dissolved gases
• CO2
• O2
• H2S
LO1
Types of
hydrocarbon
produced
Factors affecting
Factors
Geographic
characteristics of
Lifetime of
the reservoir
affecting
characteristics
location of
the field
PW
of PW
Geological
formation
Environmental Impacts
Discharge to surface
Spills and leaks Underground injection Air emissions
water
• Presence of salt can • Damage to fresh • Need to check • Evaporation pits and
• Kill plants water aquatic compatibility ponds causes plumes
• Damage soil animals and plants • Incompatible can of vapor that deposit
• Toxic compounds, oil cause precipitates on the ground down-
• Problem may occur
and grease can that block poses – wind of the site
if spill in
freshwater body damage to aquatic requires additional • Salty deposits
life injection pressure cause harm to
• Toxic compounds, oil
• Endocrine and • Potential microbial plants and soil
and grease can
damage to aquatic reproductive problems that lead
life effects to the formation of
• Non-endocrine H2S
effects • Injection wells need
to be constructed
properly
1 2 3
Employing Reuse and recycling If neither of these
technologies to tiers is practical,
minimize produced disposal is the final
water production option
3 Tiered Produced Water Management Hierarchy

PW Management Options for O&G Industry
Injection
Reuse in oil and gas operation

Injection of produced
water into the same Consume in beneficial use
formation from which Treat the produced
the oil is produced or water to meet the Discharge
handle to another quality required to use Produced water
formation. it for usual oil and gas treatment to meet to
fields operations quality required for Treatment of produced
beneficial uses such as water to meet onshore
irrigation , rangeland or offshore discharge
restoration, cattle and regulations.
animal consumption,
and drinking water.
Produced Water Production
Minimisation
Reducing the By minimizing the
Environment
volume of water water, cost saving
point of view
produced allows can be done
Reduced cost of Less usage of

More oil to be
equipment chemicals for water
produced
maintenance separation
Less volume of
Decreases the cost of Reduced produced produced water and
lifting a heavier fluid water handling and associated pollutants
to the surface treatment discharge to the
environment
Advantageous of Minimising Produced Water

Technologies to minimize and reuse produced water
1. Use a closed-loop drilling fluid system

2. Drill horizontal wells
3. Optimize production rate to minimize the influx of water
4. Mechanically block water from entering the well
5. Treat the producing formation with polymers that decrease the permeability of
water, while maintaining the permeability of hydrocarbons
6. Use down-hole oil/water separation (DOWS) – using hydrocyclone to separate
water and oil inside the well space
7. Seafloor separation technologies
8. Conduct hydrotest of pipelines, equipment and tanks with produced water
construction
Water minimization technologies limitations
• The effectiveness in mechanically blocking the water from entering the well
depends on the type of reservoir and well construction. Examples of mechanical
blocking
• Straddle packers
• Bridge plugs
• Tubing patches
• Cement
• Chemical treatment – polymers are used to shut off water-bearing channel or
fractures within the formation.
• DOWS is restricted to type of wells.
• Seafloor technologies – very expensive.
Reuse & Recycling
Treatment of produced waters for injection and reinjection
Reuse/Recycling
and Disposal
Purpose of 1. Maintain the 2. Maintain an
pressure of the immiscible flood
water reservoir at a level front pushing the
injection at which the gas oil towards the
cannot break out production wells.
of solution
1. Temperature and pressure
of reservoir Generation of
2. Injection water is insoluble organic Scaling
chemically incompatible
with the formation water. salt
Matter of concern
Produced water re-injection
• Onshore, treated produced water can be used for irrigation

• Offshore, the primary re-use of produced water is to enhance oil production –
water reinjection
• Limitations - the produced water must be treated to meet certain quality levels
to
• Prevent plugging of wellbore
• Prevent plugging of reservoir pores
• Prevent system failure
Produced water re-injection
• Factors that limits reinjection

• Dispersed oil
• Suspended solids
• Fatty acids
• Dissolved gases
• Salts
• pH
• Temperature
Examples of potential problems
1. Formation of highly insoluble sulphate salts of strontium and

barium ions.
 Formation water contains significant level of strontium and barium
ions.
 Seawater contains high level of sulphate ion.
 Mixing these water creates highly insoluble sulphate salts of
strontium and barium ions.
2. Blockage of formation pores by suspended solids
3. Content of oil suspended in water
Treatment objectives of using produced water for reinjection
1. Remove the suspended solids

 Degree of removal is reservoir specific
 Highly permeable sandstone reservoir accepts higher levels of both oil and
solids.
 Limestone accepts less because injection is into rock matrix.
 Temperature of injected water plays a role in the formation of micro
fractures
2. Reduce the level of oily hydrocarbon in the water.
General Produced Water Treatment
Produced water treatment
Primary treatment
Well head
desanding
Solid-fluid cyclone
Working principles of a solid-liquid cyclone?
Horizontal Three-
Phase Separator
Suitable used to efficiently 1

remove large volumes of
fluids which contains large
volumes of dissolved
gases.
3
2
Working principles of a three-phase separator
1. Flash separation/ flash vaporization – removing dissolve gas from bulk liquid.
• sufficiently hot liquid mixture is throttled into a vessel – part of it will
vaporize, resulting in the vapor produced to be richer in the more volatile
components.
• Reduced pressure 
Fundamental theory of the working principles
2. Coalesence – removing oil from water by merging small droplets of oil to

become bigger.
• Force of molecular attraction and surface tension
3. Gravity settling – settling of liquids wit different densities

• Retention time
Three Phase Separator
Hydrocyclone
• Application: To remove
• Fine sand
• Oil
• Working principle
• No moving parts
• Convert incoming liquid
velocity into rotary
motion.
• Directing inflow
tangentially near the top
of a cylindroconical vessel.
• This spins the entire
contents of the vessel,
creating centrifugal force
in the liquid.
Secondary treatment
Degasser/ Flotation
• Dissolved air flotation - Air
bubbles are used to change
the specific gravity of the oil
droplet.
• Bubble size is an
important efficiency
factor.
• Bubble size is controlled
by throttling the inlet
valve
Tertiary treatment
Nut Shell Filter
• Can be used to remove both dispersed oil and
suspended solids.
• Nut shell media used are either crushed pecan
or walnut.
• Not oil wetted
• Hence no surfactant washing is required.
Robinson D., Oil and gas: Treatment of produced

water for injection and reinjection. 2013.
Filtration+Separation. Vol. 50, Issue 4, pp. 36, 38 -43.
CGE686/Chapter 2.1/PNFMK
Membrane
Membrane type and pores size
Membrane
Reuse & Recycling
Treatment of produced waters convert to steam for heavy oil
recovery (Thermal enhanced oil recovery)
Introduction
• Traditionally – once through steam

generators (OSTG) are used.
• The steam generators produce high
pressure steam for injection into
geological formations containing
heavy oil.
• The condensing steam fluidized the
heavy oil.
• The oil is recovered and the
produced water is de-oiled and
treated as feedwater to OSTG.
Alternative
• Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD)
Vertical film evaporators
Treatment and discharge of
produced waters offshore
North Sea practice
 North sea
installations uses
waterflood to
optimize
production.
 Resulting in
higher water cuts.
 Fluid temperature
is high
Robinson D., Oil and gas: Treatment and discharge
of produced waters offshore. 2013.
Filtration+Separation. Vol. 50, Issue 2, pp. 20 - 23.
Gulf of Mexico
practice
 In deepwater GoM, the
production is relatively dry
 Fluid temperature is lower.
Robinson D., Oil and gas: Treatment and discharge

of produced waters offshore. 2013.
Filtration+Separation. Vol. 50, Issue 2, pp. 20 - 23.
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CHAPTER 2.

2. Discuss the benefits of pollution prevention and waste management techniques

To identify the ways to minimize the

To identify on the suitable pollution

Produced water production volume

• US National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) reports

• The major compounds of produced water

• Oil is a mixture of hydrocarbon which include

• Chemicals that are added to treat or prevent operational problems.

3 Tiered Produced Water Management Hierarchy

Reuse in oil and gas operation

Reduced cost of Less usage of

Advantageous of Minimising Produced Water

1. Use a closed-loop drilling fluid system

• Onshore, treated produced water can be used for irrigation

• Factors that limits reinjection

1. Formation of highly insoluble sulphate salts of strontium and

1. Remove the suspended solids

Suitable used to efficiently 1

2. Coalesence – removing oil from water by merging small droplets of oil to

3. Gravity settling – settling of liquids wit different densities

Robinson D., Oil and gas: Treatment of produced

• Traditionally – once through steam

Robinson D., Oil and gas: Treatment and discharge

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