Produced Water

• Produced water originates from the

reservoir and the aquifer rises when the well
is producing.

• Water can enter from either the bottom or

the side depending on the reservoir
structure.

• Once the water starts being produced, it

only gets worse with time until the well is
unable to flow.

• There is also water of condensation which

is an insignificant amount produced with the
hydrocarbons.

• The quantity of water produced is

generally expressed as water cut (%) for oil
wells and WGR for gas wells. 1
 Definition of an emulsion
An emulsion is a heterogeneous liquid stream consisting of two immiscible liquids
with one of the liquids intimately dispersed in the form of droplets in the second
liquid.

Heterogeneous – a chemical system consisting of more than one phase

Immiscible – the property of two or more liquids not mixing and forming more
than one phase when brought together. 2
 Formation of Emulsions
Three conditions are necessary for an emulsion to form:-
1. Presence of two liquids that are immiscible
2. Agitation to dispense one liquid as droplets in the other
3. An emulsifying agent must be present

3
Diagram of a regular emulsion –
Water in Oil
Crude oil

H 2O

Emulsifying Agent

Hydrophilic “Head” Hydrophobic “Tail”

(Water Soluble) (Oil Soluble)

4
Emulsion Stability – Droplet
Density
More Stable Emulsion Less Stable Emulsion

Few Droplets per Unit Volume Many Droplets Per Unit Volume
of Fluid Yields Few Collisions of Fluid Yields Many Collisions
Example: 4% S&W Example: 42% S&W

5
 Agitation
Agitation may result from the following: -

1. A bottom hole pump

2. Flow through the tubing, wellhead, manifold or flowlines
3. Surface transfer pump
4. Pressure drops through chokes, valves or other surface
equipment

Turbulence is the dynamic factor that disperses the water in the oil and is a
prerequisite to emulsion formation.

A moderate level of controlled turbulence, however, causes the dispersed

droplets to collide and coalesce and is usually provided by normal flow in
surface lines, manifolds and separators and by flow through the emulsion-
treating unit or system.

6
 Emulsifying Agents
Emulsifying agents are surface-active compounds that attach to the water
drop surface and lowers the oil water interfacial tension

Characteristics: -

• Some may be asphaltic in nature

• They are barely soluble in oil

• They are strongly attracted to water

• They come out of solution and attach themselves to the droplets of water as these
droplets are dispersed in the oil.

• They form thick films that surround the water droplets and prevent the surfaces of
the water droplets from contacting, i.e. coalescence
7
 Examples of Emulsifiers
Emulsifiers may be oil-wet solids :-

• sand
• silt
• shale particles
• crystallized paraffin
• iron
• zinc
• aluminum sulfate
• calcium carbonate
• iron sulfide

The amount and nature of the agent determines whether an emulsion will be
formed and also it’s stability

8
 Examples of Commercial
Emulsions
Examples of domestic emulsions include: -

1. Butter or Margarine (water dispersed in fat)

2. Mayonnaise (fat in water)

3. Various salad dressings e.g. Vinaigrette

4. Cutting fluid for metal working

5. Milk (fat dispersed in water)

6. Hand lotion

7. Ice Cream
9
 How can emulsions be
prevented
• Remove the water.

• Prevent agitation

• Have good operating practice e.g. efficient reservoir

management, subjecting oil water mixtures to turbulence

• Reduce pressure drops as much as possible

10
 Other Characteristics Of
Emulsions
• The most common colour of emulsions is a dark reddish brown.
• Any colour from light green or yellow to gray or black may be found

• Emulsions are murky and opaque because of reflection and

scattering of light at the oil/water interface

• High viscosity crude oil will form a more stable emulsion than low
viscosity oil. The high viscosity crude usually are very stable and
difficult to treat.

11
Methods used in treating
crude emulsions
There are three steps usually required to separate an oil/water emulsion.

Step 1 – Destabilization
An emulsion is destabilized by counteracting the stabilizing effect of the
emulsifier.

This is usually accomplished by adding heat and/or a properly selected

interfacially active chemical compound to the emulsion.

Step 2 – Coalescence
After the films encasing the dispersed droplets are broken, the dispersed
droplets must coalesce into drops large enough to settle out of the
continuous phase of oil.

This is usually is accomplished by imposing a period of moderate agitation.

12
Methods used in treating
crude emulsions
There are three steps usually required to separate an oil/water emulsion.

Step 3 – Gravity Separation

A quiet period of settling must be provided to allow the coalesced drops to

settle out of the oil because of the difference in density between the water
and oil.

13
 Effect of heat - Advantages
The use of heat in treating crude oil emulsions has four basic benefits: -

• Heat reduces the viscosity of the oil

• Heat increase the droplets’ molecular movement which aids in

coalescence through increased collision frequency of the dispersed-
phase droplets.

• Heat may deactivate the emulsifier or it can enhance the action of

treating chemicals, causing it to work faster and more thoroughly to
break the film surrounding the droplets of the dispersed phase of the
emulsion.

• Heat also increases the difference in density between the oil and the
water, thus accelerating settling

14
 Emulsion Stability -
Temperature
More Stable Emulsion Less Stable Emulsion

Lower Temperature Higher Temperature

Example: 70OF Example: 190OF

BAKER
HUGHES
15
Baker Petrolite
Effect of Heat - Disadvantages
• Heating well fluids is expensive

• Adding heat causes a loss of the lighter end hydrocarbons which

ultimately lowers the API gravity of the crude, lowering its value,
resulting in a reduction of income.

• Liberated gas can create enough turbulence and disturbance to inhibit

coalescence.

Also, the small gas bubbles have an attraction for the water droplets,
keeping them from settling and may also cause them to be discharged
with the crude.

• Emulsions may be more difficult to treat when it is cool; at night,

during rain or in winter.

16
 Chemical Demulsifiers
Demulsifiers allow the dispersed droplets of the emulsion to coalesce
into larger drops and settle out of the matrix.

For them to work, the following must be met: -

1. They must be injected into the emulsion - with the chemical

volume directly proportional to the emulsion volume.

2. They must be intimately mixed with the emulsion and

migrate to all of the protective films surrounding all of the
dispersed droplets.

17
 Chemical Demulsifiers

3. They must displace or nullify the effect of the emulsifying

agent at the interface.

4. There must be a period of continued moderate agitation of

the treated emulsion to produce contact between and
coalescence of the dispersed droplets and a quiet settling period
must exist to allow separation of the oil and water.

18
 What the chemical should do
Three actions are required of a chemical demulsifier:-

• Strong attraction to the oil/water interface

• Flocculation – it must have an attraction for water droplets with a

similar charge and bring them together.

• Coalescence – after flocculation, the emulsifier film is still continuous..

The demulsifier must therefore neutralize the emulsifier and promote

rupture of the droplet interface film.

19
Effect of Heat on the demulsifier

Application of heat to an emulsion after a demulsifier has been mixed with

it increases effectiveness of the chemical by:

• reducing the viscosity of the emulsion and facilitating more intimate

mixing of the chemical with the emulsion.

• increasing the rate of the chemical reaction at the oil/water interface.

20
Effect of Turbulence (moderate and
controlled)

Turbulence accelerates the diffusion of the demulsifier throughout the

emulsion and increase the number and intensity of impacts between
water droplets.

It must be prolonged for a sufficient time to permit the chemical to

reach the interface between the oil and all the dispersed water
droplets, however, it must be controlled so that it will not cause further
emulsification.

21
Batch Treating emulsions in
a tank of wet oil (emergency
measure)
When a tank of wet oil (oil containing more than the permissible amount
of water accumulates, the tank contents can be treated by adding a small
proportion of demulsifier, agitating or circulating the tank contents and
then allowing time for the water to settle in the tank.

Trailer mounted units that include a heater, a circulation pump and

chemical injectors are sometimes used for this method of tank treating.

22
 Disadvantages of Chemical
Treating
Excessive amounts of treating chemical can result in the following: -

1. Increased stability of the oil-in-water emulsion in the produced water

2. Increased stability of the interfacial emulsion and/or sludge.

3. Waste money equal to the cost of excessive volume of chemical over the optimum
volume.

4. Waste of money for the handling, injection and the cost of the excessive volume of
chemical

23
 Disadvantages of Chemical
Treating
Insufficient amounts of treating chemical can result in the following:-

1. Failure to break the emulsion

2. Quick buildup of excessive amounts of emulsions and/or sludge

3. Need for excessive heat to break the emulsion

4. Need for excessive settling time to resolve the emulsion

24
 Disadvantages of Chemical
Treating
Insufficient amounts of treating chemical can result in the following:-

5. Reduced capacity of the treating equipment

6. Excessive water remaining in the crude oil

7. An accumulation of unsalable oil

8. Resultant cost for retreating the crude

25
 Emulsion Treatment using Wash Tank

The emulsion enters the wash

tank at the top and passes
down through a pipe and goes
through a spreader close to
the bottom of the tank.

The emulsion comes into

contact with water in the water
wash section. .

Hot water can be used in the

water wash section

The free water molecules

collide with the dispersed
water in the emulsion.
 Emulsion Treatment using Wash Tank

These collisions result in

coalescence of the water
molecules which become
heavier and fall through the
emulsion.

The oil floats to the top and

accumulate in the oil settling
section and passes through the
oil outlet.

The free water passes through

the water outlet.

The gas migrates to the top and

exits at the top of the wash tank.
Emulsion Treatment using Wash Tank
Free water removal
Emulsion Treatment using Treater
 Horizontal Treater
Heater Treater

For most multiwell

flow streams,
horizontal heater-
treaters are normally
required.

The figure shows a

simplified schematic
of a typical horizontal
heater-treater.

Design details vary from manufacturer to

manufacturer, but the principles are the
same.
 Horizontal Treater
Heater Treater

The horizontal heater-treater

consists of three major
sections:

-front (heating and water-

wash),
- oil surge chamber,
-coalescing sections.

Incoming fluids enter the front

(heating and water-wash)
section through the fluid inlet
and down over the deflector
hood where gas is flashed
and removed.
 Horizontal Treater

Heater Treater

Heavier materials (water

and solids) flow to the bottom
while lighter materials (gas
and oil) flow to the top.

Free gas breaks out and

passes through the gas
equalizer loop to the gas
outlet.
 Horizontal Treater
Heater Treater

The oil, emulsion, and free

water pass around the deflector
hood to the spreader located
slightly below the oil–water
interface, where the liquid is
“water-washed” and the free
water where it is collected and
flows to the clean oil outlet.

The collector is sized to

maintain uniform vertical flow of
the oil.

Coalescing water droplets

fall countercurrent to the rising
oil continuous phase
 Horizontal Treater

Heater Treater

The front (heating and water-

wash) section must be sized to
handle settling of the free water
and heating of the oil.

The coalescing section must

be sized to provide adequate
retention time for coalescing to
occur and to allow the
coalescing water droplets to
settle downward countercurrent
to the upward flow of the oil.
 Horizontal Treater

Heater Treater

Most horizontal heater-treaters

built today do not use fire tubes.

Heat is added to the emulsion

in a heat exchanger before the
emulsion enters the treater.

In these cases the inlet section

of the treater can be fairly short
because its main purpose is to
degas the emulsion before it
flows to the coalescing section.
 Electrostatic Treater
Heater Treater

Some horizontal heater-treaters

add an electrostatic grid in the
coalescing section

The flow path in an electrostatic

heater treater is basically the
same as in a horizontal heater-
treater, except that an
electrostatic grid is included in
the coalescing-settling section,
which helps to promote
coalescence of the water
droplets
 Electrostatic Treater
Heater Treater

The electrostatic section

contains two or more
electrodes, one grounded
to the vessel and the other
suspended by insulators.

An electrical system
supplies an electric potential to
the suspended electrode.

The intensity
of the electrostatic field is
controlled by the applied
voltage and spacing
of electrodes.
 Electrostatic Treater
Heater Treater

Oil and small water droplets

enter the coalescing section
and travel up into the
electrostatic grid section, where
the water droplets become
“electrified” or “ionized” and are
forced to collide

The electrodes have electrical

charges that reverse many
times a second; thus, the water
droplets are placed in a rapid
back-and-forth motion.
 Electrostatic Treater
Heater Treater

The greater the motion of the

droplets, the more likely the
water droplets are to collide
with each other, rupture the skin
of the emulsifying agent,
coalesce, and settle out of the
emulsion.

Because of the forced

collisions, electrostatic heater-
treaters typically operate at
lower temperatures and
use less fuel than horizontal
heater-treaters.
 Electrostatic Treater
Heater Treater

The time in the electronic

field is controlled by electrode
spacing and the vessel
configuration.

An electronic field exists

throughout the body of the oil
within the vessel, even though
most coalescing takes place in
the more intense fields in the
vicinity of the electrodes.
 Electrostatic Treater

Heater Treater

It is imperative that the design

of the vessel provide for
distribution of the emulsion
across the electrical grid.

It is also essential to maintain

the fluid in the liquid phase in
the electrical coalescing
section.

Gas evolving in the coalescing

section will attract the small
water droplets in the emulsion,
becoming saturated with water
and carrying the water up to the
oil outlet.
 Electrostatic Treater
Heater Treater

In addition, water-saturated
vapors, which are highly
conductive, will greatly increase
the electrical power
consumption.

It is also important to prevent

the water level from reaching
the height of the electrodes.

Nearly all produced water

contains some salt.

These salts make the water a

very good conductor of electric
currents.
 Electrostatic Treater

Heater Treater

Thus, if the water contacts the

electrodes, it may short out the
electrode grid or the
transformer.

Since coalescence of the water

droplets in an electric field is
dependent on the
characteristics of the specific
emulsion being treated, sizing
of grid area requires laboratory
testing.

Field experience tends to

indicate that electrostatic
treaters are efficient at reducing
water content in the crude to
the 0.1 to 0.5 percent level.