Effective Produced Water Management Using Produced Water Treatment Equipment

Anyone who has ever driven through Alberta's oil sands will have noticed the tailings ponds. It's a fact of life that oil and gas production always includes some degree of "produced water" or water that is a by product of the drilling or mining process.

That's true of land based oil production operations like the oil sands, and undersea drilling. But no matter how the water is produced, it needs to be managed, handled, processed, and ultimately, disposed of somehow. Here's how the right produced water treatment equipment can make that process simpler, better and more cost effective.

Tackle the Problem Early

The ideal solution to deal with produced water in oil and gas operations is to complete as much of the processing as possible as early as possible. There are a variety of Down Hole Oil in Water Separation apparatus or produced water treatment equipment systems that do just that.

The idea here is that whatever water does end up on the surface requires minimal processing before it can be taken to catchment or final treatment areas, and the oil that is produced is unadulterated and easier to process. Less handling means less cost, so this is a great way to maximize profits.

Sub sea produced water treatment equipment can be gravity based, or use cyclone technology to accomplish the same thing.

Oil and Salt Removal

The next type of produced water treatment equipment is designed to ensure that the water that does arrive on the surface is safe and potentially reusable is to remove the oil and salt that is mixed in.

There are a variety of pieces of equipment and processes that are used for this process too, including gravity separators, centrifuges and at the very end of the spectrum, membranes. Most of these methods are purely mechanical, however, since unlike salt, oil and water don't mix!

Evaporation, electro dialysis and reverse osmosis are all among the options to remove salt.

Monitoring and Testing

As critical to the process is the final type of produced water treatment equipment, which is the equipment used to monitor and test the water. In order to comply with health and safety and environmental guidelines, treated produced water must meet minimum guidelines. You could say this is the most important type of produced water treatment equipment.

The key really is to rely on the experts to design the right system for you. Contact PS Filter today to find out more about produced water treatment. 

NEIL RICHARDS, BSc, MPS

GENERAL MANAGER

As an Energy Industry Professional Neil has a well-rounded knowledge of what it takes to effectively produce oil and gas to maximize the benefit. For the past 34 years working in the Oil-Patch, Safety and Environmental Protection has always been important to Neil and his associates. Neil feels Energy Companies and the Industry have come a long way to do things better and safer while continuing to contribute to a Global Economy and continues to look at the future with a positive attitude.