produced water solutions

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Produced Water is the aqueous liquid phase that is co-produced from a producing oil well along with the oil and/or gas fluids.

The fluids are brought from the oil reservoir to the surface and separated into oil, gas and water. However, the water stream most often comprises; suspended solids, dissolved solids, suspended oil, dissolved oil, dissolved gases, microbes and other added material like chemicals that are used during production. 

Produced water must first be treated to reduce these contaminants to meet surface discharge regulations or must get prior treatment to meet formation re-injection requirements. 

In a typical separation of crude oil production, the crude oil from the production wells enters the production separator first, which is essentially a three (3) phase separator to remove the water and gas from the oil. Produced water from the crude oil separation train usually contains 500 – 2000 mg/l of free oil.

The initial step or primary treatment in produced water treating is to reduce the solids content if there is presence of solids. This is then followed by reduction of the oil content to below 500 mg/l by gravity (or enhanced gravity) separation using Skimmers, Corrugated Plate Interceptors (CPIs) or Liquid-Liquid Hydrocyclones, 

In some applications, secondary treatment step often represents the final step where discharges of 20 – 29 ppm of free oil content are permissible. 4M Process offers vertical Induced Gas Flotation Units (IGF) units which are used, almost exclusively, for off-shore installations, where plot space is limited.  4M Process also offers multi-cell IGF units, which although prevalent on on-shore installations, can be adapted for off-shore application as well if required.

We offer comprehensive conceptual as well detailed process engineering services including process design, optimization, and control.  We also offer detailed design of produced water skidded packages, including associated piping, vessel, structural and electrical and Instrumentations (E&I) designs. 

Our insurance covers offshore operations allowing us to support our customers on site. We provide Produced Water systems startups and commissioning oversight, small project retrofit or debottlenecking designs and execution, and system troubleshooting.

4M Process offers Produced Water training and education services, including classroom training as well as hands-on training.    Our customized training programs are designed to meet your unique needs and challenges.