Minimum Treatment to

Sustain Produced Water

Re-injection (PWRI)
Wally Georgie
Principal Consultant
Separation and Flow Assurance
Maxoil Solutions

Produced Water- Best Management

g Practices
NEL Conference
KL November 21 2013
Reasons For Water Injection
j
Water flooding – a secondary recovery
process where water is injected to obtain
additional oil recovery after the reservoir
has reached its economically productive limit
by primary-recovery methods
Wate Pressure
Water P ess e Maintenance – Water Wate
injected into an oil-producing reservoir to
s pplement
supplement the reservoir’s
ese oi ’s indigeno s
indigenous
natural energy to improve the oil-producing
characteristics of the field before the
economically productive limits are reached
 Types of Water Injection Options
For Pressure Maintenance
• Seawater
S t I j ti
Injection
• Fresh Water Injection
• Low Sulphate Seawater Injection System
• Produced Water Reinjection
• Commingled Seawater / Produced Water
• LowSal Water Injection
 Reservoir Considerations
• Reservoir Geometry
• Lithology (Physical Description of Rocks)
• Reservoir Depth
• Porosity
• Permeability (Magnitude and Degree of
Variability)
• Fluid Properties
• Suspended Solids
• Souring due to Sulfate Reducing Bacteria
• Injection above Frac Pressure
 FIGURE
GU

Water Injection Specifications of 80’s

RELATIVE NUMBER

PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION

An important factor affecting the
success of any water injection
40
project is the quality of the water
being injected. the design basis
(filt specification)
(filter ifi ti ) iis suchh th
thatt
the water quality should enable
injection for the life of the
project, at a minimum injection
pressure and d minimum
i i cost.
t The
Th
20 major question to ask is, what are
the water quality specifications
required for successful injection
into a reservoir

1 2 3 4 6 8 10 20
PARTICLE SIZE (microns)
• On-site core-flooding - an old O&G industry
technique popular in the 1970’s to early
2000’s
• In many cases overly conservative wrt
injection
j specification
p setting
g (
(e.g.
g classical
98% removal @ 2 micron)
• Microscopic scale tests (4” core plugs)
attempting to simulate vast injection zones
dominated by macroscopic features, e.g.
natural & induced fractures
• Core flooding superseded by injectivity
modelling simulators
• Majors/supermajors set injections specs by
modelling as do many consultants & its
accuracyy has been p
proven
• Injectivity modelling has become standard
industry practise
• Running Pilot Tests with Selected wells and
carry out onsite monitoring
Achieving Required Water Quality
• Although Water Quality can be achieved out of
the plant
• Water quality is affected by several types of
contaminants before it gets to the well bore
– Including suspended solids, scale, oil, bacteria,
corrosion products and marine organisms. Injection
water standards for corrosion, scale formation and
biological activity are not difficult to define
 Deaeration
Tower
Seawater lift Heat
Filters
pump Exchanger
Oxygen
Scavenger Injection
Pump

Chlorination Booster
Pump
Scale
Biocide Inhibitor
Seawater Injection Bacteria Monitoring
Sample
sidestream to ensure
Point
effective bacteria
control Injection
Produced Water Reinjection
j
• If necessary sand removal and other
solids should be removed in order to
minimise the risk of damaging the
injections pumps
– Main solid removal will be sand
• Ensure solid content of less than
20mg/liter or less
• The
Th level
l l off solid
lid content can be
b slightly
li h l
higher since the produced water will be
dil
dilutedd down
d with
i h seawater
Combined Seawater/Produced Water Injection Home
• Solid removal facilities can be either
filter strainers or sand removal units
• Excessive amount of solids would cause
serious damage to the rotary equipment
(pumps) and will cause serious erosion
of the internal components as well as
the system pipe work. Consequentially
water injection would be unsustainable
with frequent equipment failures.
Combined Seawater/Produced Water Injection Home
 FAQ
FAQ
Can seawater and produced water be
mixed for PWRI with different water
chemistries
g different water chemistries for
Mixing
PWRI can cause scale problem but in
most cases the scale can be kept
p under
control and manageable with the
correct chemical treatment strategy
gy
FAQ
Will the mixing of seawater with
formation (produced) water for water
injection increase the risk of reservoir
souring
In theory the souring process might be
faster with the mixing g of pproduced
water re-injection in any reservoir with
a p
potential souring
g pprospect
p caused byy
seawater injection; due to the higher
bacteria activities caused by y the
additional nutrients
Typical Configurations of PWRI & SW Injection
Produced Water + Seawater Injection

Produced Water
Degassing Tank

Solids Removal
(Sand)
Biocide
Injection
Injection Filters
Booster Cooler Pump
Pump

Sample
Corrosion Point
Inhibitor Coagulant
Filter Aid
Discharge
Injection
Scale
Deaeration Inhibitor
Seawater lift Heat Tower
Filt
Filters
pump Exchanger

Sample
Oxygen
Point
Scavenger

Coagulant
g
Chl i
Chlorination
ti Filter Aid

Seawater Booster
Pump
Produced Water Re-injection

Produced Water
Degassing Tank

Sample
Point

Solids Removal
(Sand)

Biocide Injection
Injection Filters Pump
Booster Cooler
Pump

Corrosion Sample
Inhibitor Point

Discharge
Injection
• Depending on the system and field
g , typically,
design, yp y, the specifications
p
for injection are:
– Oil in water 10 – 300 ppm
– Solid content of less than 20 mg/litre
– Water temperature 20 – 40 oC

PWRI Home