Lesson Handout Notes 24131 PRODUCED WATER

A62.1858-LHN-PRO-24131-01
Effective Date: April 10th 2007

Training Program Discipline System Sub-System Training Focus Training Elements

: TECHNICIAN: LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATION : PROCESS : WATER TREATMENT : PRODUCED WATER : BASIC KNOWLEDGE : This lesson targets training on the following training elements: Oil Removal Corrugated Plate (API) Interceptor Induced Gas Floatation Unit (IGF) Wemco Unit : At the end of the Lesson the participants will be able to: Describe oil removal processing - water disposal system Describe how a Corrugated Plate Interceptor works Describe how an Induced Gas Floatation Unit operates Describe how the Wemco Unit works

Training Objectives

0 Rev

2007-04-10 Date

Viorel Vladut Prepared by

V.V. Initials

T. Hedison Checked by

TH Initials

R.G. Hollamby Approved by

RGH Initials

Initial Document Modifications Page 1 of 11

Form: A62.1858-ADM-FRM-0203

Cegelec 2006

This document is the property of Cegelec (The Company). Distribution and use of this document are strictly governed by the Company s Document Management Policy and Procedures. The contents and form of the document are the sole property of The Company and may not be reproduced, distributed or used without the express written permission of The Company.

Lesson Handout Notes 24131: Produced Water

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DOCUMENT INFORMATION TABLE OF CONTENTS: Technician Level 2 Certification Process Water Treatment Produced Water Basic Knowledge Document information Table of Contents Purpose Owner Custodian Oil Removal / Skimming Tank Hydrocyclones Degassing Drum Corrugated Plate Interceptor Induced Gas Floatation Unit Wemco Unit Page no. 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 5 6 8 9 11

Purpose The purpose of this document is to provide the participant study information. Owner The owner of this document is the Process Discipline Team of Ogere Training Facility, Ogere Remo, Ogun State Nigeria. Custodian The custodian of this document is the Data Administrator and Document Controller of the Ogere Training Facility, Nigeria.

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OIL REMOVAL Skimming Tank The first step in any waste water treatment program is the removal of oil from the water. Oil can create problems when it is re-injected or disposed into the formation. More importantly it can seriously affect other water treatment processes installed in a system with the oil removal equipment. Oil is especially bad for fouling filter media. One effective method of removing oil is with a skim tank (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Skim Tank

The contaminated water enters the tank and is discharged very slowly close to the oil-water interface. The entrained oil rises to the surface and passes over the weir into the oil skimmer trough. The level of oil in the trough is regulated by a float control valve, which sends the oil to storage for further processing. The recovered oil will often pay for the operation of the waste water treatment program. The water leaves the skim tank through a standpipe installed outside the vessel. Notice that the water outlet pipe takes off at the correct height to maintain the level in the skim tank and the stand pipe is in communication with the top and bottom of the tank. The skim tank is only effective if the oil and water easily separate from each other. If some of the oil remains suspended in the water, a loose media coalescer as shown in Figure 2 may be used. Contaminated water enters the top of the loose media coalescer and is discharged close to the surface. The water must take a tortuous path down through the loose media, which provides the oil droplets more opportunity to collide and merge to form larger drops, which float to the surface. The oil free water must pass through a spill pipe at the filter outlet which maintains the level in the filter. The media in the filter may be crushed rock, charcoal, plastic or other suitable material.

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Figure 2 Loose Media Filter In some cases, small amounts of oil can be successfully removed by "floating" the oil droplets on air bubbles in a flotation tank. Air is bubbled up through the oil contaminated water and as it rises, carries small droplets of oil with it. The oil and gas float to the top of the flotation tank where paddles carry the oil and gas froth out of the tank. The oil is recovered and at the same time, some of the corrosive gases may be removed. The process is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Floatation Tank

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Hydrocyclones Hydrocyclones are pieces of equipment used to separate oil and water by nature of their differing densities. The Hydrocyclones are pressure vessels installed with an assembly of fitted liners, which are manufactured to produce very high centrifugal forces. The liners consist of: An inlet volute chamber A concentric reducer A tapering section and a parallel tail section.

Hydrocyclone liners are assemblies housed within the hydrocyclone units that enable segregation of the feed stream into treated water outlet and reject oil outlet streams. The produced water feed stream enters the liner, which forces the fluid into a spiral path towards the outlet. The spiral path results in centrifugal forces that through the denser water to the outer wall of the liner and displaces the less dense oil toward the central core of the hydrocyclone liner (see Figure 4). By maintaining the reject oil stream (overflow) pressure at a lower level than the water (under flow) pressure, the central core is made to flow in the opposite direction to that of the denser fluid and exits through the reject oil nozzle at the top of the hydrocyclone. The clean treated water (under flow) exits through the water outlet nozzle at the base of the hydrocyclone. The pressure drop from the water inlet to the water outlet stream is carefully built up to achieve optimum operation of the unit. The pressure available from the feed vessel determines the maximum flow. The overflow (reject) pressure needs to be maintained lower than that of the under flow (outlet) pressure so that the reject stream is encouraged to flow back through the restriction orifice.

Figure 4 - Hydrocyclone Flow

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Highly efficient separation of oil and water can be achieved within these units. As they depend upon pressure differential for their operation, they are unaffected by movement. Other advantages are that they take up far less space than conventional separation flotation systems and also they can be fitted either horizontally or vertically. Originally, hydrocyclones had one liner fitted to each unit and increases in water production rates were catered for by bringing additional hydrocyclones on line. Modern hydrocyclones however, have multiple liners fitted in each unit (see Figure 5).

Figure 5 - Hydrocyclone Pod, Vertically Mounted Advantages of hydrocyclones: Consistent quality Reduce load on filtration equipment Minimal power requirements No moving parts Continuous operation with small or large throughputs Deliver improved process efficiency High safety and operability with minimum supervision and maintenance requirement

Degassing Drum The purpose of Produced Water Degasser (see Figure 6) is to separate any remaining oil and hydrocarbon gases from the produced water before disposal. It is a three-phase separator and it receives produced water from the Oil/Water Hydrocyclone. There is very little difference between a phase separator and a degassing drum except for the internal layout. A degasser drum normally runs at a very low pressure and it has an internal bucket for collecting any small amounts of oil produced its main function is as its name suggests to free any gas from the produced water.

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Feed from the hydrocyclone enters the degasser; it is entering a larger space allowing the fluid to expand to its natural size. Due to the effects of density difference between the fluids and gases and the action of gravity the gas will naturally separate from the water, collects at the top of the vessel and is fed away to the flare system. Oil will naturally float on water and settle to the top of the liquid, this is then skimmed over and is collected in the bucket area to be fed back to the sump collection or pumped to the LP separator. Clean water builds up in the inlet base of the vessel and travels to the opposite end from the inlet to spill over a weir system and then to disposal. It should be noted that the feed from the hydrocyclones should already be in high quality specifications and the oil and gas content very low before the action of the degasser. Oil is separated from the produced water by gravity and the gases that flash-off flow to the LP Flare Header. The clean produced water flows to the Open Drain Caisson for disposal. 4

2 3

5 Figure 6 - Degasser Vessel

1. Produced Water Inlet - the produced water inlet admits produced water for separation from the Oil / Water Hydrocyclone. 2. Oil Bucket - the oil bucket is an internal compartment that collects oil separated from the produced water. The less dense oil forms a layer on top of the water and flows over the bucket wall into the internal compartment. The oil level is monitored and manually drained. 3. Water Weir - cleaned produced water flows below the oil bucket and overflows the water weir into a separate compartment of the Produced Water Degasser. The level in this compartment is monitored and controlled. 4. Gas Outlet - the gas outlet discharges hydrocarbon gas that is flashed from the produced water into the LP Flare Header 5. Oil Outlet - the oil outlet discharges oil from the oil bucket, which is equipped with a vortex breaker, to the closed drain header. 6. Clean Produced Water Outlet The clean produced water outlet is drained on level control to the Open Drain Caisson for disposal.

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Petroleum refineries typically utilize primary and secondary wastewater treatment. Primary wastewater treatment consists of the separation of oil, water and solids in two stages. During the first stage, an API separator, a corrugated plate interceptor, or other separator design is used. Wastewater moves very slowly through the separator allowing free oil to float to the surface and be skimmed off, and solids to settle to the bottom and be scraped off to a sludge collecting hopper. The second stage utilizes physical or chemical methods to separate emulsified oils from the wastewater. Physical methods may include the use of a series of settling ponds with a long retention time, or the use of dissolved air flotation (DAF). In DAF, air is bubbled through the wastewater, and both oil and suspended solids are skimmed off the top. Chemicals, such as ferric hydroxide or aluminum hydroxide, can be used to coagulate impurities into a froth or sludge which can be more easily skimmed off the top. Some wastes associated with the primary treatment of wastewater at petroleum refineries may be considered hazardous and include: API separator sludge, primary treatment sludge, sludges from other gravitational separation techniques, float from DAF units, and wastes from settling ponds. Corrugated Plate (API) Interceptor This unit provides the next stage of treatment. As the wastewater enters the CPI, it is dosed with both a flocculant and a demulsifier/coagulant to allow bonding of the small particles of oil to form larger droplets and to breakdown any oily emulsions to form free oil which will then separate from the wastewater. Fine solids and particulate matter are also bound together to induce sludge formation. The corrugated plate interceptor comprises a unit with various compartments and a pack of inclined corrugated separation plates (see Figure 7). As the water enters the interceptor it is evenly distributed across the width of the pre-separation compartment where, any large slugs of oil can rise directly to the surface oil/water interphase.

Figure 7 Corrugated Plate Interceptor The oily water then enters the plate pack. This comprises a series of corrugated separation plates forming channels for the sullage to pass through. As the oily water passes down through the pack, the laminar flow conditions inside the channels allows oil globules to rise due to differential density and attach themselves to the underside of the inclined plates. An oil film is so formed that slowly creeps upward along each plate surface.
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At the top of the plates, the oil film is coalesced into a thick stream of oil that quickly rises to the upper part of the inlet compartment. The oil recovered forms a layer, which can be removed by the adjustable oil skimmer and flows to the oil storage tanks. The outlet (discharge) then gravitates into the third treatment process via an outlet weir. Approx 95% of all remaining free oil is removed in this unit; the discharge will contain oil at less than 50mg/l (50ppm). CPI separators are counter current separators. As seen before, oily water enters the pack at the top and flows between the parallel plates in a downward direction. Separated oil droplets adhere to the plate surface, coalesce and move upward, counter to the downward moving main flow. The separated oil droplets leave the CPI plate pack at the top. Moreover CPI plate packs can also be used for the separation of heavier particles. With this application the water enters the plate pack at the bottom side and moves through the pack in an upward direction. Separated particles subsequently slide down along the surface of the plates and leave the plate pack at the bottom. For this application, the angle of the plates is increased to 55 or 60. The CPI was such an improvement in separating oil from water that it became the standard oil separator. Even the CPI however, had a disadvantage: clogging of the plate packs, caused by sludge accumulation in the guide chutes. The chutes also formed an obstacle for cleaning the plate packs with water jets. The plate packs had to be lifted out of their basins before they could be cleaned. However due to the accumulated sludge, the weight of a plate pack increased significantly over time. Consequently, many a plate pack collapsed when lifted out of its basin. Induced Gas Floatation Unit (IGF) Secondary oil/water separation utilizes gas flotation, to attach gas bubbles to small particles thereby increasing their buoyancy, to remove contaminants. The objective of secondary oil/water separation is to remove oil from water. Often oil and solid particles are so small they distribute themselves evenly in the water phase and will not settle by gravity. Secondary separation involves some type of mechanical or hydraulic mechanism to remove oil and solids. Equipment used in secondary separation includes induced gas flotation (IGF) and dissolved gas flotation (DGF). Induced gas flotation and dissolved gas flotation involve the introduction of fine gas bubbles that attach to oil and fine solids and float them to the surface where they are removed to slop oil systems. Flotation units are mostly used as a separation step downstream of gravity separation to either meet discharge limits for oil and grease or save filtration from extremely short run lengths. Inlet oil content should not exceed 300 mg/L as outlet oil removal suffers above this limit. Produced gas recirculation is generally used to generate micro bubbles. The introduction of air is not recommended for potentially hydrocarbon rich environments due to risk of explosion and dissolved oxygen content can have detrimental effects on equipment and subsurface production or disposal formations.

Figure 9 Induced Gas Floatation Unit

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The most common flotation separators in onshore produced water use are horizontal IGF units (see Figure 9). These units are generally multi-cell mechanical or hydraulic units. They have lower retention times than DGF and therefore are smaller units, but they generally have a much higher float recycle rate than DGF. IGF is efficient at elevated water temperatures, which are often produced from the wellhead. Without chemical addition flotation units should remove particles larger than 25 microns. With chemical addition to coagulate oil and solids, particles less than 10 microns may be removed. In induced gas flotation, gas is introduced into water either mechanically or hydraulically. Mechanical distribution uses a cylinder and rotating impeller to suck gas from above the liquid level and discharge it at the lowest part of the cell. The result is a turbulent mixture of gas and liquid. Rising gas bubbles attach to oil and solids and float these particles to the surface where they are removed into a skimming launder as float recycle. Retention time is generally between 4 and 8 minutes depending on the method of inducing gas. To achieve the optimum performance, a flotation unit should: Disperse the right mass of gas into the water Achieve the right bubble size Achieve a smooth flow path for the bubbles Minimize the percentage of the inlet capacity, taken off as skimmings Prevent the leakage of any harmful gaseous components

Figure 10 IGF Schematic IGF technology utilizes a motor-driven vaned rotor or impeller for inducing and mechanically mixing gas with produced water (see Figure 10). Gas is drawn from the vapor space in the vessel and mixes with the produced water resulting in small bubbles which rise to the surface. Negatively charged oil-droplets will adhere to the bubbles which are positively charged and quickly rise to the surface forming an oil froth layer to be removed mechanically or hydraulically through the oil trough. Cationic polymer is typically added up stream of the IGF unit to enhance the oil removal efficiency. Produced water flows through each of four cells in series resulting in overall oil-in-water removal efficiency of about 95 %.

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WEMCO Unit The WEMCO unit, or WEMCO Depulator, is an example of an Induced Air Flotation (IAF) device which is often used by crude oil producers and some petroleum refineries. Wemco is the standard for removing oil and grease reliably. The unit is a horizontal vessel built on a skid (see Figure 11). The mechanical gas induction of the Wemco has proven to be one of the most successful means of removing minute oil droplets. Process Flow Waste water flows horizontally through the unit which contains 5 cells or chambers. The first four cells are aerated while the final is quiet or not aerated. The gas bubbles carry oils and suspended solids to the water surface where they are removed. Skimmers facilitate the removal of the oil while reducing skimmed water. The final quiet cell removes the last oil and gas from the water. The principle of the IAF is that an intimate mixture of air and mineral liquid is forced through nozzles which provide the separating action necessary to create millions of bubbles. The bubbles are then disseminated throughout the flotation chamber. Oil and suspended solids attached to the air bubbles are carried to the surface of the water where they form froth. A skimmer paddle sweeps the oil and solids froth into an overflow chamber. Some units use nitrogen gas or natural gas drawn with crude oil instead of induction of air in order to exclude oxygen from the WEMCO unit.

Figure 11 Wemco Unit Skid Mounted

Wemco Unit Performance The Wemco unit can remove 90 to 95% of the oil in the feed water. Chemicals may be added within the vessel to further improve efficiencies. Our experience has also developed custom features that enhance the performance and operation of the unit.

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