Produced Water Society th Annual Conference 16

Fundamental Approach to Produced Water Treatment: Validation of an Innovative Technology

Marc Saad, M.J. Plebon and Serge Fraser TORR Canada Inc.

Introduction
The fundamental approach used to develop an innovative technology for produced water treatment has recently been extensively validated. An understanding of the basic physical characteristics of produced water, specifically the oil and emulsion droplet size distribution, poses the basis of performance of most treatment processes. The presented innovative technology has been designed accordingly to address these physical phenomena and has recently been validated through several field trials. The various successes of the field trials provide a new alternative technology for produced water treatment that allows for meeting the strictest of discharge regulations and re-injection criteria. Results have also proven that the need to understand and appropriately quantify the produced water characteristics in order to be able to select and efficient performing technology is inevitable.

Development and Control

Separation of smaller-sized oil-in-water (OIW) emulsions has been developed through extensive experimental testing, in both the laboratory and on many fields, and resulted in an innovative technology. The resulting technology separates and recovers small OIW emulsions with an optimum variable efficiency that is distributed over the OIW droplet size distribution curve of site-specific PW to deliver an effluent that meets the requirements of the treatment process.

The treatment process incorporates two stages of oil adsorbing, coalescing and desorbing porous media in the form of radial-flow cartridges complemented by gravity separation. This is shown in the process flow diagram of Figure 1 as follows:

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Produced Water Society th Annual Conference 16

Figure 1: PFD of Technology Process Development of the process was based on controlling the breaking of OIW emulsions through the media with removal efficiencies as follows: 9% o O W e u i s ai ca c rt l g s f 5 mad bv. 9 f I m lo hv g hr t ii e t o 1 n aoe sn n a e sc n h 9% o O W e u i s ai ca c rt l g s e en 0 mad 5 m 7 f I m lo hv g hr t ii e t bt e 1 n 1 . sn n a e sc n h w 9% o O W e u i s ai ca c rt l g s e en ad 0 m 0 f I m lo hv g hr t ii e t bt e 5 m n 1 . sn n a e sc n h w 75% of OIW emulsions having characterist l g s e en ad . i e t bt e 2 m n 5 m c nh w

Removal efficiency calculations are weighed by particle count. These oil droplets are coalesced in the media and released to the separation chamber. The gravity separation of the released oil droplets is bsd n t e Law as follows: ae o So ks

Vr gd 2 ( oil ) / 18 w
Where

Vr

w oil
g

is the oil droplet rise velocity is the diameter of the oil droplet is the density of water is the density of oil is the dynamic viscosity of water is the gravitational acceleration

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Produced Water Society th Annual Conference 16

The process controls the gravity separation of the released oil droplets based on the following criteria: Recovery of all released oil droplets having characteristic leng s f 00 m t o 10 . h Variable optimum recovery efficiency based on the characteristics of the crude oil in the PW (see following example). As a typical case, a crude oil having an API Gravity of 30 would be separated as follows:
Oil Droplet Grav ity Separation Rate 100 250 um 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 Oil Droplet Rise Velocity (m/hr) 1000 1200 1400 500 um 750 um 1000 um 1250 um 1500 um 2000 um

The graph shows the rise velocity of released oil droplets versus the height of the media cartridges. In other words, all oil droplets of a specific diameter will be recovered if they have a positive velocity. The recovery of the oil droplets will depend on the location they were released with respect to the outlet collection points. The droplets having a negative velocity will be entrained in the effluent. Measurements of the size of the coalesced oil droplet released from the media cartridges have shown that the normal size is in the order of millimeters.

The process controls the separated and released oil droplet rise velocity by controlling the flow distribution in the separation chamber. Heavier oil (API 20) has been used as the basis for the process design for optimum performance in both parts of the process (emulsion breaking and coalescing and gravity separation). Removal efficiencies of OIW emulsion breaking and recovery efficiency of released coalesced oil droplets will determine the OIW concentration of the effluent. This concentration is controlled through the above process settings and has been measured and validated in several offshore produced water treatment trials.

Media Cartridge Height (%)

Figure 2: Graph showing example of oil droplet rise velocity in technology process

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Produced Water Society th Annual Conference 16

Validation and Results

Two offshore produced water treatment field trials are presented. The results show that for different site-specific characteristics of produced water, the technology manages to treat and polish the OIW concentration to meet and exceed the regulation values for overboard discharge.

Offshore Trial I: North Sea FPSO

A trial has been performed on board an FPSO in the North Sea to validate the performance of the technology in treating site-specific PW. This PW had an average size distribution, as measured by a third independent party using the Jorin ViPA, as follows: 10th percentile oil droplet diameter of 4.08 m 50th percentile oil droplet diameter of 5.86 m 90th pr n lo dol d m t o 2. e ete i rp t i e r f 7 6 m c i l e a e 7

1st Stage Separator 1

1st Stage Separator 2

Oil API: 31.8

Oil API: 42.2

Hydro-Cyclone 1 OUTLET: 75 - 550 ppm T = 60 - 70 Celsius 5 - 20 bar INLET: 150 - 850 ppm T = 60 - 70 Celsius 5 - 20 bar INLET: 100 - 250 ppm T = 60 - 70 Celsius 5 - 20 bar

Hydro-Cyclone 2 OUTLET: 75 - 150 ppm T = 60 - 70 Celsius 5 - 20 bar

Connection to TORR

Connection to TORR

Figure 3: Poes l Dar o Poue w t t a eti so i T R t-in locations. rcsFo i a f rdcd a rr t n l e hwn O R i w gm e em n g e

The oil in the PW had an API density of 31.8, a viscosity of 8 cSt @ 40C, a paraffin content of 6%, and an asphaltene content of 0.35%. The PW temperature was 65C. The production chemicals in the fluid stream included: a corrosion inhibitor, a scale inhibitor, a demulsifier, and a defoamer.

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Produced Water Society th Annual Conference 16

T R P ro ma c - P O O R e fr n e F S 1000
677.7 843.8 514.2

Inlet Conc. (ppm) Outlet Conc. (ppm)

190.1 127.7 133.7 106.3

100
OIW (mg/L)
78.1 42 77.1

122.6

129.7 101.2 45.5 42.5 35.63 47.83 45.32 42.81 44.2

48.5

16.5

10
5.5 4.02 3.28 2.14 2.21 1.87 1.28 5.6 3.9 2.3 1.81 4.3 4.2 4.5 2.8

3.6 2.8 2.2 1.94 2.6 2.5

1 0 5 10

15

20 25 30 Total Flow Treated (m )

35

40

45

Figure 4: Oil Removal Performance on Board North Sea FPSO The effluent from the t ho g e nl yssystem was measured for OIW concentration using UK c o Department of Trade and Industry approved methods on board the FPSO. The results for both the influent and effluent are presented above in Figure 4. The trial showed that the t ho gprocess was capable of e nl ys c o r ui t t aO W cnet t n fh F S seic rdcdw t wt a ae g e iec o e c g h o l I ocn ao o t P O s pc ipoue a r i n vr e fc ny f d n e t ri e f e h a fi over 96%.

Offshore Trial II: North Sea Fixed Drilling and Production Platform

Another trial was conducted on board a fixed drilling and production platform in the North Sea to validate the performance of the technology in treating this different site-specific PW. This PW was produced from several wellheads and mixed together in a single stream. The platform produces approximately 4000 BBL of oil (API Gravity 39, viscosity of 3.8cP, a paraffin content of 17%, and an asphaltene content of 0.4%) and 100,000 BBL of produced water per day (PW Temperature: 70C, PW pH 6.5, and maximum H2S concentration of 2000ppm). Production fluids also come from another platform. Through the first part of the trial, the technology was to treat the PW downstream of the first stage separator and upstream of the WEMCO separators. The OIW concentration downstream of the separator was around 250mg/L. The second part of the trial was performed downstream of the WEMCO separators, where the PW effluent that is discharged overboard has an average OIW varying between 40 to 50 mg/L.

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Produced Water Society th Annual Conference 16

1st Stage Separator B

Oil API: 39
INLET: 250 - 400 ppm T = 75 Celsius

OUTLET: 30 - 75 ppm T = 60 - 70 Celsius

Connecion to TORR

WEMCO

Connecion to TORR

Figure 5: Process Flow Diagram of Produced water treatment line showing T R t-in locations. OR i e

The production chemicals existent in the fluid stream treated by the technology included: Corrosion Inhibitor injected in the produced fluids at approximately Scale Inhibitor injected in the produced water at approximately Demulsifier injected in the produced fluids at approximately Demulsifier injected in the produced water at approximately Deoiler injected in the produced water prior to O/B discharge at approximately 39 ppm. 15 ppm. 15 ppm. 4 ppm. 4 ppm.

T R P ro ma c - Fixed Platform OR e fr n e 1000

558 610 350 276 231 220 172 592 470 410 380 280 295 297 275 290 276 265 280 270 245 265 238 226212 220 150 152

232 110

100
OIW (mg/L)

120 68

77 75 67 70 38 20 15 23 26 30 21 23 26 22 24 28 25 20 28 20 16 22 26 14 12 30 24

74

76

53 50 32

10
7 5.5 4.5 7 6.5 6 5 5 5 5.5 7

10

12

9 8 8 7 7 7

14 12 11

Inlet Conc. (ppm) Outlet Conc. (ppm) 1 0 50 100 150 200 Total Flow Treated (m ) 250 300 350

Figure 6: Oil removal performance on board North Sea fixed drilling and production platform The results demonstrated the t ho gperformance in terms of oil recovery and lowering the e nl ys c o PW oil concentrations to levels meeting the trial target of 15mg/Liter OIW or below. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) approved methods for oil-in-water analysis were conducted as a primary method for

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Produced Water Society th Annual Conference 16

measuring the inlet and outlet oil concentrations from the technology. Results showed that the oil concentration removal efficiency across the t ho gpoes maintained at levels around 95%. e nl ys rcs was c o

Concluding Remarks
The technology merits serious consideration for applications of polishing produced water to meet and exceed discharge regulations.

The technology is capable of coalescing and recovering oil from produced waters.

The technology demonstrates characteristics of handling upset hydrocarbon concentrations on the inlet feed.

A clear understanding of oil-in-water measurement protocols utilized is necessary to derive a fair conclusion on the performance results.

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