Selection of Technology for Produced Water Treatment

Abstract

Abstract Selected technology for Makeup (MU) and Produced Water (PW) Treatment of thermal facilities (Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), Steam Flood (SF) and Steam Assisted Gravity Drain (SAGD) plays an important role in the CAPEX and OPEX of the plant. This paper summarizes merits and demerits of the available technologies for PW treatment and presents a case study to establish the best solution for the ongoing design of the commercial plant of Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) for its initial phase of operation. To meet the production target, the time for collecting design data for PW from the pilot is not available to select the proper technology for PW treatment. Due to lack of proper analysis of PW, a conservative approach was made to select the PW treatment technology by using the analysis of the formation water with high Total Dissolved Solid (TDS). For the high TDS the selected technology was Mechanical Vapour Compression (MVC) system, a unit with high CAPEX and OPEX and is totally a new technology for CSS and SF process. With the case study, the paper demonstrates that although the formation water is with high TDS but the amount of coupled PW per barrel of crude could be very low. Thus with CSS and SF process, the TDS content of the produced water could be reduced substantially and MVC may not be an option. Field data showed as the sufficient amount of MU water is available, the need for recycling PW can be deferred. The technology for PW treatment will be selected based on the initial operating data. The accepted proposal will help the project to select the appropriate technology based on proper data of the commercial plant and may lead to a practical and economic design.