Water treatment in the oil & gas industry

The production and separation processes used in the extraction of oil or gas have a by-product, known as produced water. This comes from water entrained within the oil, and condensing out of the gas: additional water arises when water injection is used to aid the extraction of oil, particularly as the field matures. Significant percentages of water will be present when the field is becoming exhausted, and accurate flow measurement data for produced water is essential.

Such produced water is considered as industrial waste, and needs treatment to remove contaminants before disposal. The techniques used will vary according to whether the water is to be re-injected into the actual production well, or to some different underground formation. If the water is to be used for surface irrigation, evaporation ponds, or for return to the sea, different water treatment processes will be applied, to meet the stricter environmental regulations necessary.

KROHNE has extensive experience in supplying flowmeters, analytical equipment and instrumentation for the water and waste industry, and has developed a complete package of produced water treatment instrumentation. This includes equipment for the analysis, flow measurement, chemical dosing and other processes used in produced water treatment systems - including cyclonic separation, filtration, de-gassing, chemical treatment and flotation.