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1 ABSTRACT
Over the years a variety of oil/water separation methods have been developed
throughout the world, including gravity separation, corrugated plate interceptors,
centrifugal separation, hydrocyclones, and induced gas fotation. With increasingly
tight legislative limits on OIW (Oil in Water) discharges, it is important that
operators have an effective produced water treatment system which enables
compliance with regulatory overboard discharge limits, meets specifcations for
re-injection, steam generation, irrigation and any other downstream process.
This paper makes a comparison between various oil water separation
technologies commonly used for secondary and tertiary treatment of produced
water. It draws on Computation Fluid Dynamic CFD modeling, trial work and case
studies. It also describes an overview of each separation method along with
generalized confguration and internal designs of the applicable technology.
Also this paper examines the current state of gas fotation in the oil and gas
industry, and provides an in-depth look at the differences between fotation
technologies including their strengths, weaknesses, and their niche in the
contemporary marketplace. Different ways currently used to separate oil and
solids from produced water will be compared and an explanation offered for
why gas fotation technologies incorporating micro-bubbles remain the highest
performance option within Secondary water treatment equipment for many
companies around the globe.
2 INTRODUCTION
Many aging oil and gas production felds are experiencing rising water cuts which
have increased the necessity for the handling of greater volumes of produced
water. The need for more effcient treatment of produced water is exacerbated by
the ever tightening discharge regulations, and the want of increased production
given the current high price of oil. As a result of this the demand for more
cost effective and effcient oil and water separation technologies has greatly
increased, and will continue to do so in the future.
For previously acceptable oil and grease effuent limits there are a number of
widely accepted conventional separation methods that have been in use for a
long time, and with great success. However, despite many companies allocating
large sums of money to research and development of new products there have
been relatively few genuinely new technologies that have emerged over the past
few years. Many newer designs have relied on modifcations of old designs to
improve effciencies, or different combinations of the same equipment.
TECHNICAL PAPER
Nicholas Owens
Douglas W. Lee
1
GLR Solutions Ltd.
Suite S, 1338 36th Ave. NE
Calgary, AB
Canada T2E 6T6.
Tel: +1.403.219.2210
The Use of Micro-Bubble Flotation Technology in
Secondary & Tertiary Produced Water Treatment
A Technical Comparison With Other Separation Technologies
Reprint of paper presented at the Produced Water Workshop - Aberdeen, Scotland - May 2007
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In more recent years some separation technologies have received more attention
than others and there have been a number of advancements that have helped
greatly increase the effciencies of them. It is some of these on which this paper
will focus. This paper will compare and contrast differences in these approaches
to advancing the art of gas fotation.
3 SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES
Oil water separation technologies can be broadly separated into two main
types, namely gravity, and non-gravity based. The following sections present a
summary of some of the main conventionally available oil and water separation
methods that are available in both of these categories, most of which have
been successfully used for many years and have thousands of commercial
installations world wide.
3.1 Non-Gravity Based Separation Technologies
3.1.1 Hydro-cyclones
Hydro-cyclones work by generating centrifugal
forces on a stream of liquid (produced
water). The difference in specifc gravity
between oil and the water causes the oil to
migrate towards the centre of the vortex that
is created in the cyclone, thus forcing it to
one end of the cyclone and the water passing
out of the opposite end. Figure 1 shows a
typical hydro-cyclone in operation.
Hydro-cyclones have been in use for
many years and have a number of distinct
advantages, their biggest one perhaps being
their size and weight. They are compact
pieces of equipment making them very
attractive for offshore application where deck
area and mass loading is always a premium.
They are also capable of handling relatively
large inlet oil concentrations (upwards of
2000 ppm), making them highly versatile in
production facilities.
Figure 1 A Typical Hydro-Cyclone
The main drawback to this technology is based on the fact that they require
the density of the oil to be substantially different to that of the water to work
effciently. Oils with degrees of API of less than 15-17 cannot be easily separated
by this method and can be prone to causing blockages inside the device. Tight,
small (<15 micron) or diffcult emulsions can also pose serious problems to
hydro-cyclones and result in large losses in effciency.
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Due to their nature a large pressure drop is often associated with the operation
of hydro-cyclones and without suffcient inlet pressures downstream processes
can be affected. This pressure drop will be prone to fuctuate as banks of
individual cyclonic tubes are brought on or off line depending on fuctuations in
the inlet fow rate, due to the fact that each individual hydro-cyclone can handle
a limited operating range of fows. Other limitations include the hydro-cyclones
ability to deal with process fuctuations (slugging) and solids build up which can
blind liquid paths and create additional pressure loss.
3.1.2 Filtration
There are various different types of flters commercially available that are capable
of separating oil from water. The most common types for oil removal are Sand
(Upfow and Downfow), Multi-Media, and Black Walnut Shell Filters, and an
English Walnut Pecan mix. However, virtually all flters (with the exception of the
Upfow) have one thing in common, in that they are more of a fnal polishing unit
and are not well suited to high inlet oil concentrations (>50 ppm). If higher inlet
oil concentrations are fed into these flters they become clogged quickly, cause
fractures in the tight media bed, which causes breakthrough and then require
excessive amounts of backwashing (cleaning). Thus large waste streams are
produced which in turn require treatment, which can be costly.
3.1.2.1 Walnut Shell Filters
One of the most effective media for oil removal is crushed black walnut shells.
The reason for this is that these shells are highly hydrophilic and oleophobic,
meaning that although they do a good job of straining off oil they do not
bind with, or hold on to it. Due to these characteristics once the system is
mechanically backwashed the oil
is easily released and the flter
bed is returned to its original
condition. Walnut shell flters are
very frequently applied in the heavy
oil market as they can remove oil
to very low concentrations and
are not affected by the low degree
of API of the Oil. A typical walnut
shell flter is shown in Figure 2. In
addition to oil these flters are also
capable of removing up to 95% of
suspended solids (depending on
inlet concentrations).
Figure 2 A Sabian