Produced Water
Delivering onshore and offshore solutions for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and produced water treatment.
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR), or tertiary recovery, increases the recovery of crude oil extracted from an oil formation. It involves injecting a substance into a formation to increase the amount of oil recovered. This process can increase the recovery rate by 30-60%, compared to the 5-15% typically recovered in the primary stage. Produced water is the water byproduct that comes out of the well with the crude oil during this EOR process.
The composition of produced water varies widely from well to well. It typically contains soluble and non-soluble oil/organics, suspended solids, dissolved solids, and toxic heavy metals. It must be treated before being discharged or injected into the ground. As regulations have become increasingly stringent, disposal costs have risen and freshwater supply has become scarcer. Because of this, produced water treatment for reuse is becoming a more viable option.
Failing to purify produced water before discharging it back into the environment has dire consequences. More stringent legislation across the globe and increased awareness of corporate social responsibility towards sustainability are leading corporations to enforce and implement new solutions to tackle some of the issues resulting from uncontrolled pollution disposal.
Effective upstream oil and gas technologies for the removal of critical contaminants in produced water can help avoid:
- Hindering of downstream unit operations
- Fines/penalties for exceeding discharge permits
- Polluting the environment
Ultimately, not paying attention to effectively removing specific contaminants can be costly. Finding cost-effective solutions is as important as ever.
We help the oil & gas industry solve challenging environmental issues with best-in-class industrial water treatment solutions.