Tracking maximum water treatment efficiency in the oil industry

Produced water is a bi-product when oil and gas are pumped from the reservoirs. There are two sources – groundwater and water injected to set more speed to the oil- and gas production. Because the water are substantial in quantity and contains a lot of harmful substances, it it a problem environmentally.

In his doctoral thesis “Tracking Maximum Produced Water Treatment Efficiency Using a Variable Speed Coalescing Centrifugal Pump”, Rune Husveg has been researching how produced water can be treated more efficient.

He has followed the PhD-programme at the Faculty of Engineering and Science with specialisation in Mechatronics. Husveg is an Industrial PhD, which means the research work for the thesis are done in close cooperation with - and partly financed by the company where he is working - Typhonix AS.

Summary of the thesis by Rune Husveg:

Tracking maximum water treatment efficiency

Produced water is the most significant by-product of petroleum production, and it is often associated with large volumes and high handling costs. Even though naturally occurring, the produced water poses substantial environmental impacts if not managed correctly.

Today, the portion of produced water increases as fields are kept in operation for extended periods of time.

Minimize environmentally harmful substances

A holistic perspective is therefore required to minimize the content of dispersed oil and other environmentally harmful substances in the discharged water, to reach the zero harmful discharge goal.

Oil removal is the primary goal of produced water treatment, and the efficiency of the treatment equipment is highly sensitive to the oil droplet's size.

Generally, the larger the droplets, the better the separation. Therefore, a coalescing centrifugal pump has been introduced to target produced water applications. This pump promotes droplet growth rather than breakage and thereby increases the separation efficiency.

In the work of this thesis, tracking techniques have been designed, using real-time process information to adjust the operation of the novel coalescing pump continuously, to optimize the droplet growth and maximize oil removal efficiency.

Thesis: More efficient equipment

For oil companies, the techniques developed in this thesis can be used to utilize existing process equipment and installations better, and to make new facilities more compact and efficient.

The strategies can also be considered a step in reducing the total discharge of harmful substances, and to reduce emissions and the use of chemicals related to produced water treatment.

The results of this work are hence a unique and novel utilization of emerging pump technology, and a step closer to reaching the zero harmful discharge goal.