Produced Water Treatment

Presented by Muhammad Nidhom

Agenda Style
01 Introduction

Produced Water Tretment

02 Technology

03 Parameters of Selecting
Produced Water treatment
 Introduction
Produced water generated from
crude oil exploitation contains
compounds such as BTEX,
ammonia, phenol, and mercury that
are dangerous for human health
and environment

To achieve produced water treatment goals in

order to utilize it, operators have applied
various standalone and combined physical,
chemical and biological processes

The technologies are categorized as preliminary,

pre-treatment and desalination
 Produced Water Treatment
Technologies
Main Treatment
.
Preliminary
. Desalination
.

1. Dissolved air/gas flotation 1. Reverse Osmosis (RO) &

1. API oil/water separator
2. Induced gas/air flotation Nanofiltration (NF)
2. Hydrocyclone
3. Air stripping 2. Electrodialysis (ED)
3. Settling & storage tank
4. Media filtration 3. Thermal Separation Process
4. Corrugated Plate
5. Organic removal & 4. Membrane Distillation
Interceptor (CPI)
biological treatment
5. Chemical coagulation
6. Coalescer
PRE-TREATMENT
TECHNOLOGIES
API Performance of API separator depends on retention time,
Oil/Water tank design, oil particles, operating conditions and
coagulation/flocculation effects
Separator Most API oil/water separators are not able to reduce oil
concentrations below 50 mg/L
API oil-water The costs of oil-water separators are highly variable in the
separators are used range of $13,000 – $120,000 ($0.08 – 0.4 per kgal/min
to separate water treated)
suspended solids
and oil from
produced water by
gravity based on the
density and size of
oil droplets or
particles *Suspended solids settle to the bottom of the separator as sludge, oil and grease rise to the top of
the separator
Hydro Remove particulates and oil from produced water through
centrifugal force generated through spinning motion
cyclone Remove particles in the range of 5 to 15 μm.

Can not remove soluble oil and grease components

Separator device are
used to separate Operating cost for the hydrocyclone is low and the capital
suspended solids costs vary in the range of $60,000 - $90,000 ($0.03 – 0.19
from liquid based on per kgal/min water treated)
the densities of
materials to be
separated
Settling and Chemicals can be used to enhance sedimentation
through coagulation
Storage Tank
Waste from the settling tanks need to be removed and
disposed to landfill
During settling,
particulates with sizes Operating cost is minimal and construction costs are
greater than 0.1 mm highly variable in the range of $1,000 – $10,000
can be removed by
gravity force Tanks are normally operational for 20 years

Settling tanks are

most often used in
combination with
other treatment
processes
Corrugated Plate The oil which raised to the surface is removed by
regulatable drum oil skimmer
Interceptor (CPI)
Application to wastewater treatment the wide The
Separates oil, water temperature of water is from 4°C to 100 °C PH of oily
water from 2 to 12
and sludge by means
of the dissimilitude of
specific gravity Advantages of CPI:
• Low maintenance
• Large free surface
It can clear off oil- and long retention
content 10,000 ppm time
to about 50 ppm • No moving parts
• Flowrate 10 – 500
m3/h
 Chemical Coagulation & Softening
Adding coagulants for the
purpose of conditioning
particulates by flocculation Coagulants such as alum,
and sedimentation/filtration ferric chloride, and ferric
sulfate hydrolyze rapidly
To remove soluble salts such
when mixed with the water to
as calcium, magnesium,
be treated
barium, and heavy metals,
softening process with lime Disadvantages of the process
and soda ash is used are generation of sludge for
disposal, high chemical
The system installation may demand
range from $0.050 to $0.3 per
kgal/min water treated

*The coagulants costs vary from $300-2500/ton depending on the chemicals

MAIN
TREATMENT
TECHNOLOGIES
 Dissolved Gas/Air Flotation
The dissolved gas can be air,
nitrogen, or another type of
inert gas
Dissolved air flotation can
remove particles as small as 25
μm without flocculants, and
3-5 μm with flocculants
Flotation is a process in which
A fine gas bubbles are used to
float small, suspended particles
to the surface
B The efficiency of the flotation
process depends on the
C density differences of liquid
and contaminants to be
removed, and also on the oil
D
particle size and temperature
*The cost of setting up a dissolved gas/air flotation
treatment ranges from $75,000 to $100,000 ($0.034
– 0.19 per kgal/min water treated)
 Induced Gas flotation
clarifies wastewaters (or other

A waters) by the removal of

suspended matter such as oil
or solids
The removal is achieved by
injecting gas bubbles into the
water or wastewater in a
flotation tank
B Small bubbles adhere to the
suspended matter causing the

C suspended matter to float to the

surface of the water where it
may then be removed by a
skimming device
Comparison of DAF and IGF Flotation Units

Dissolved Air Flotation   Induced Gas Flotation

1 Air is dissolved into water. Air saturation 1 Air is entrained and mechanically mixed
equipment is required into water. Requires high-energy mixing
2 Flotation of impurities due to bubbles 2 Surface interaction at air-water interface
enmeshed into floes of solids and oil between air bubbles and impurities
causes separation
3 Air bubble size of 30-120 micro meters 3 Air bubbles of up to 1000 micro meters
produces slow rise rate produce rapid rise rate
4 Lower loading rates because particles 4 Rapid kinetics, therefore shorter
rise slower; longer detention time detention time
5 Higher density of solids and oil in 5 Lower density of solids and oil in
skimmed float collected froth
 Air Stripping

effective to Air stripping Air stripping requires

Air stripping is used
separate VOCs involves the pretreatment to
to remove
from water but interphase remove particulate
dissolved gas and
ineffective for mass transfer matter, iron and
volatile organic
inorganic by forcing air hardness, to avoid
compounds (VOC)
contaminants clogging of packing
materials or spray
nozzles
*A major operating cost of air strippers is the electricity required for water
pump and the air blower. The unit costs range from $0.4 to $3/kgal
 Media Filtration
Using variety of types media,
including walnut shell, sand,
anthracite, and others
Solid waste disposal may be
required for backwashes.
Media may need to be
replaced due to loss during
backwash
Filtration can be used to
remove oil and grease
A particles at over 90% removal
efficiency, and TOC from
produced water
B
Minimum size of particle
C removed by traditional media
filter range from 0 to 10
microns
D
*The operation and maintenance of media filter is simple. The
construction costs vary from $650 – $1200 ($0.005 – 0.0005
per kgal/min water treated)
 Organic Removal &
Biological Treatment

Activated sludge is remove nitrogen, Large reactor volumes Processes include

an aerobic phosphorus and combined with aeration the high operating
biological dissolved organic allow active sludge to costs, sensitivity to
treatment process compounds treat wastewater at varying feed water
for wastewater relatively low hydraulic quality, sludge
treatment retention times (~8 disposal, large
hours) footprint
Coalescer

• For final removal of

water (W/O). In this unit,
water content can be
reduced to below 0.1%
• Internal electrodes
form an electric field to
break surface bonds
between conductive
water and isolating oil in
an oil-water emulsion
DESALINATION
TECHNOLOGIES
Reverse RO is capable of treating water with TDS concentration up
to 40,000 mg/L
Osmosis &
NanoFiltration RO treatment is effective in removing almost all
inorganic and organic contaminants in water

To minimize membrane fouling and scaling, RO requires

Processes that utilize extensive pretreatment to remove sand, silt, clay, algae,
hydraulic pressure to microbes, colloidal particles and large molecular organics
diffuse permeate
(pure water) through SWRO are capable of rejecting contaminants as small
a dense, non-porous as 0.0001 micron and has high rejection rate to
membrane and monovalent and multivalent ions, organic molecules,
retain solutes on the and metal ions
feed water side of the Brackish Water RO (BWRO) is designed to treat feed stream
membrane with TDS concentration 500 – 25,000 mg/L to achieve a
higher water recovery (85%) than SWRO
 RO & Nanofiltration

petroleum organic NF membranes are The nominal The costs of NF

matters need to be designed to achieve TDS range for membranes are
removed before RO, high rejection of NF applications similar to RO. But
which include free and divalent ions, is between the separation
dissolved oils that will metals (>99% of 1,000 and performance is less
result in reduced MgSO4), and 35,000 mg/L
membrane permeability radionuclides

*RO treatment capital cost ranges from $0.0006 - $0.005 per kgal/min water for large scale,
to $0.2-1.2 per kgal/min water for small scale
 ED is an Environmental Protection Agency Best Available
Electro Technology (EPA BAT) for removal of barium, nitrate,
Dialisys (ED) nitrite, selenium, and TDS

Benefits of ED include minimal chemical addition, low

pressure requirement, long membrane lifetime under
Electrodialysis (ED)
proper maintenance (12 – 15 years), wide pH tolerance
are desalination (2 – 11), and easy maintenance
technologies driven
by electrochemical
ED is comparable or slightly more expensive than RO
charge which provide
the ability to
selectively transport ED has lower performance for highly saline produced
positively charged water
cations and
negatively charge
anions
 Thermal Separation Process
All most all of the organic and
inorganic contaminants can
be separated from the product
water, except the volatile
compounds
Monitoring is required during
the process
Thermal separation processes
use energy to heat feed water
A that evaporates and then
condenses to become purified
water
B
Thermal evaporation processes
C require pre-treatment to
remove suspended solids and
organic matter
D
*According to Devon Energy, the cost to treat frac water is
$79.6/kgal ($3.35/bbl) using Aqua-Pure
 Membrane distillation
An emerging technology that
utilizes low-grade heat to
provide driving force to achieve Materials commonly employed
membrane separation by MD include
polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE),
High TDS concentration has
polypropylene (PP), and
less impact on membrane
polyvinylidenedifluoride (PVDF)
performance as compared to
RO
Has almost 100% theoretical
Requires pre-treatment to rejection to all non-volatile
completely remove surfactants solutes
to prevent wetting of membrane
by feed stream and pore
flooding
*$4.85/kgal ($1.28/m3) and $2.73/kgal ($0.72/m3) as overall costs
 Parameters of Selecting
Produced Water Treatment

A Produced water quality

contaminants removal
efficiency B
C Production efficiency

energy consumption
and costs D
 Treatment
Industrial Status Applicable TDS Range Removal Efficiency Water Recovery/Waste Energy Demand Costs
Technology
Remove oil droplets with sizes > 150 μm, 33% to 68%
Oil-water-sand Mature and commercially High water recovery. Solid wastes Equipment costs $0.08 – 0.4 per
All total suspended solids (TSS) and 16% to 45% Low
Separator (API) available need to be disposed kgal/min water treated
chemical oxygen demand (COD)
Mature and commercially High water recovery. Solid wastes Equipment costs $0.03 – 0.19 per
Hydrocyclone All Remove particles with sizes >5 to 15 μm Low
available need to be disposed. kgal/min water treated
Mature and commercially High water recovery. Solid wastes Depending on local
Settling All Removal of suspended solids with sizes >0.5 mm Low
available need to be disposed. construction and material costs
Dissolved air/gas Mature and commercially Particles as small as 25 μm without flocculants, and 3- High water recovery. Solid wastes Equipment costs $0.034 – 0.19 per
All Low to medium
flotation (DAF/DGF) available 5 μm with flocculants. 93% oil removal need to be disposed. kgal/min water treated
Mature and commercially High water recovery. Off gas needs
Air stripping All Up to 99% removal of volatile organic compounds Low to medium Unit treatment costs $0.4 - $3/kgal
available to be treated
High water recovery, backwater
Media filtration Mature and commercially 90% removal of oil and grease particles from 0 to 10 Filter costs $0.005 – 0.0005 per
All water waste needs to be dried and Low
available μm. kgal/min water treated. Media costs vary
disposed
Equipment costs $0.050 to $0.3 per
Chemical Mature and commercially High water recovery. Solid wastes kgal/min. coagulants costs
All Oil and suspended solids removal at 97% and 92% Low
Coagulation available need to be dried and disposed $3002500/ton depending on the
chemicals
Energy consumption decreases Equipment costs $2.7 – 21.8 per
Emerging and Typical TDS limit 30,000 95% removal of turbidity, 35- 64% TOC, 43 - 74% High water recovery. Solid wastes
Electrocoagulation with increase of conductivity of feed kgal/min water treated
commercially available mg/L boron, 5 - 90% calcium need to be dried and disposed
water (3.5-0.8 kwh/kgal)
Biological Mature and commercially Typical TDS limit <40,000 High water recovery. Solid wastes Depending on construction and material
Over 90% COD removal, over 98% BTEX removal Low to medium
Treatment available mg/L need to be dried and disposed costs

Rejection of salts is high (over 99%) under lower TDS,

Water recovery varies depending $0.0006 - $0.005 per kgal/min or large
Brackish Water RO <25,000 and is lower (40% - 65%) under high TDS due to
Reverse osmosis Mature and commercially on feed water quality from 40-85%. Energy increases with increasing plants, to $0.2-1.2 per kgal/min for small
mg/L; Seawater RO<40,000 scaling and fouling potential. Rejection of organic
(RO) available Brine feed TDS (2-16 kWk/kgal) Plants. Unit cost $2.5/kgal for produced
mg/L compounds ranges from 20% to 99.7%. Rejection of
needs to be disposed water
adioactive matters is high (99%).

Rejection of salt and organics is lower than RO (40% - Water recovery varies depending
Nanofiltration Mature and commercially
Generally <8,000 mg/L 90%). Rejection of multivalent ions on feed water quality from 40-90%. 10% less energy demand than RO Equipment costs similar to RO
(NF) available
is high (~90%) Brine needs to be disposed

Can achieve partial removal Water recovery varies depending

Mature and commercially Energy and cost increase with
Electrodialysis Generally TDS <40,000 mg/L of salts. TDS rejection up to 90%, depending on energy on feed water quality from 40-90%. Comparable or slightly higher than RO
available increasing Feed TDS
input and feed water quality Brine needs to be disposed
Can be applied to all Bins.
30 kWh/kgal of product water. 100 -
More efficient for TDS Water recovery varies depending
Mature and commercially ~100% rejection to nonvolatile solutes. Not applicable 250 kWh/kgal of product water for
Thermal distillation <40,000 mg/L. Higher TDS on feed water quality from 40-80%. $79.6/kgal ($3.35/bbl) treating frac water
available to volatile contaminants zero-liquid
may cause sever scaling Brine needs to be disposed
discharge
problem
All bins. Product flux reduces Water recovery varies depending
Membrane Distillation ~100% rejection to nonvolatile solutes. Not applicable 945 kWh/kgal thermal and 4.16
Emerging with 35,000 mg/L or higher on feed water quality from 70-90%. Not available
(MD) to volatile contaminants kWh/kgal electricity
TDS Brine needs to be disposed
THANK YOU