Challenges and Opportunities in Oil Fields Produced Water Treatment

Produced water treatment composition varies all over the map and requires specific unit processes and unit operations with each and every site. Produced water from Canadian Oil Sands is codendate from high pressure steam flooging/injection into Bitumen layer It have heavy oil emulsion, high Silica and dissolved solids as compared to tradional oil fields with more free oils, very high salinity and heavy metals. Produced or surface water used for Enhanced Oil Recovery have differnt reqiurements, such as suspended solids removal, corrosion and scale protection, complete Oxygen scavanging, selective Sulfate removal and Biocide injection which will require totally different treatment process. There are different challanges and opportunities for cost effective and reliable sytems for each application. This paper will discuss some real life examples how to achieve the desired results.