Advanced Membrane Filtration Technology for Cost Effective Recovery of Fresh Water from Oil & Gas Produced Brine

Abstract

This study is developing a comprehensive study of what is involved in the desalination of oil field produced brine and the technical developments and regulatory changes needed to make the concept a commercial reality. It was originally based on ''conventional'' produced water treatment and reviewed (1) the basics of produced water management, (2) the potential for desalination of produced brine in order to make the resource more useful and available in areas of limited fresh water availability, and (3) the potential beneficial uses of produced water for other than oil production operations. Since we have begun however, a new area of interest has appeared that of brine water treatment at the well site. Details are discussed in this technical progress report. One way to reduce the impact of O&G operations is to treat produced brine by desalination. The main body of the report contains information showing where oil field brine is produced, its composition, and the volume available for treatment and desalination. This collection of information all relates to what the oil and gas industry refers to as ''produced water management''. It is a critical issue for the industry as produced water accounts for more than 80% of all the byproducts produced in oil and gas exploration and production. The expense of handling unwanted waste fluids draws scarce capital away for the development of new petroleum resources, decreases the economic lifetimes of existing oil and gas reservoirs, and makes environmental compliance more expensive to achieve. More than 200 million barrels of produced water are generated worldwide each day; this adds up to more than 75 billion barrels per year. For the United States, the American Petroleum Institute estimated about 18 billion barrels per year were generated from onshore wells in 1995, and similar volumes are generated today. Offshore wells in the United States generate several hundred million barrels of produced water per year. Internationally, three barrels of water are produced for each barrel of oil. Production in the United States is more mature; the US average is about 7 barrels of water per barrel of oil. Closer to home, in Texas the Permian Basin produces more than 9 barrels of water per barrel of oil and represents more than 400 million gallons of water per day processed and re-injected.