View article

Produced water (PW) is wastewater generated from oil exploration, and requires treating for oil and suspended solids removal. The viability of an effluent treatment unit process for this duty is dependent both on its efficacy, in terms of oil removal and – for offshore applications especially – its size, in terms of its area (F_A, m/h) and volume (F_V, h⁻¹) footprint per unit volume flow. The incurred footprint applies to both the individual unit (vessel, column or tank) and the collection (or array) of units/vessels in a skid.

An assessment of unit process footprint based on available information has been conducted, in particular to the case where high-quality treated water is required for reinjection. The analysis encompasses technical data from specific proprietary technologies as well as generic information for process technology types. Technologies considered comprised hydrocyclones (HCs), induced gas flotation (IGF), media …