Ultimately, the operator was able to discharge 35,400 barrels of water overboard instead of being collected and sent ashore. Because the TDS of the produced water was already high, RO was not needed as part of the treatment system. In a 2019 efficiency test with a large independent E&P operator in the Gulf of Mexico, the system treated 36,387 barrels of water using five pairs of IX resin columns that together averaged 5 barrels-per-minute flow rates, with four total backwash cycles. The entire system is fully compliant with API RP 14C safety standards and can operate as a standalone or integrated with pre-treatment systems that separate oil and other contaminants from completion fluid flowback or produced water. Both components arrive in a skid-based, offshore package. The zinc-removal system is available in two options: (1) RO with IX and (2) IX only. By selectively removing zinc, the remainder of the salts and most of the water can be discharged to the ocean. It works without chemicals and has a relatively low residence time. The patented system combines two technologies-reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and ion exchange (IX) resin-to minimize zinc waste volumes. Discussed will be a simpler, highly effective system that can save as much as 25 percent or more in zinc treatment and disposal costs. Traditional approaches to treating zinc from completion fluid flowback and produced water are cumbersome and costly, with potential for perpetual liabilities associated with onshore in-ground disposal. The system's treatment process canĪbstract This paper and its presentation provides an overview of an innovative way to treat zinc-contaminated water that might, for example, result from the use of completion fluids with extremely dense zinc bromide-up to 19.2 pounds (8.7 kilograms) per gallon-in high-pressure wells. residual zinc-contaminated fluid canīe produced months after completion operations are finished. Ppm), which come from the formation chemistry. water typically has low contaminant levels ( 100 Zinc bromide completion fluids and discharged on site. Months or longer and in sufficient concentrations to require treatment. if any of the zinc bromideĬompletion fluid was lost to the formation, it may appear in the well's produced water for weeks, In a related but r.are occurrence inĮarly production phases, gas condensate of water can potentially form with relatively high levelsįlowback of the co. Permissible levels of 1 ppm ( 1 mg/L) for ocean discharge. two situations require this compliance:Įarly production stages, when a well lacks sufficient produced water to dilute the zinc to Liabilities associated with onshore in-grou.

Traditional approaches to treating zincįrom completion fluid flowback and produced water are cumbersome and costly, with potential for perpetual That might, for example, result from the use of completion fluids with extremely dense zinc bromide.-in high-pressure wells. Shane Broussard and Philip Burclaff, SiemensĬopyright 2020, Off.his paper and its presentation provides an overview of an innovative way to treat zinc-contaminated water Streamlining Zinc Removal from Completion Fluid Flowback and Produced Water in Offshore Oil & Gas Production Completion Installation and Operations (1).

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