The oil and gas exploration industry is under intense scrutiny to address mounting water management challenges. Practices such as water reuse, injection and discharge all impinge on economics. An ever-changing regulatory environment combined with demands from the public sector for conservation and sustainability has put water management at the forefront of the industry.

Produced water streams must be treated prior to disposal, reinjection or reuse. Conventional treatment schemes employ numerous technologies and still achieve inconsistent results. Continually changing inlet conditions often limit their effectiveness. Additionally, conventional systems often call for a heavy dose of chemicals, creating an ongoing economic and chemical management burden for the industry.

Some of the issues that offshore owners and operators are facing include plugging of injection wells and producing formations by solid particles and suspended oil droplets; plugging of lines, valves and orifices due to deposition of inorganic scales; exceeding discharged oil concentrations; and growth of bacteria that plug lines and valves or result in the formation of harmful products.

Effective hydrocarbon recovery and solids removal from produced water streams is critical. Delivering reliable, stable operations enhances performance while addressing the health and safety of the surrounding environment.

Pentair’s Hydrocarbon Recovery Technology (HRT) provides the potential for dramatically improved solids control and hydrocarbon recovery. HRT was designed and engineered to remove solids as fine as a half micron with efficiencies up to 99.98%. Customers using HRT on produced water systems have experienced operational, environmental and economic benefits. Better operational flexibility, savings on chemical additives, lower maintenance costs associated with fouling and elimination of water quality excursions all significantly increase performance.

Hydrocarbon Recovery Technology is a scalable and modular design that's able to fit any customer’s footprint and process needs. (Source: Pentair)

“HRT has the flexibility to respond to changing produced water conditions as well operations and production conditions fluctuate,” said Pentair's Dr. Carl Hahn.

The robust design is modular and scalable, suited for either new capital projects or existing equipment upgrades. HRT has demonstrated recovery efficiencies greater than 99.98% with hydrocarbon concentrations up to 5%. This allows effective separation of hydrocarbons as heavy as API gravity 13 oils. This translates into increased throughput, reduced operating costs, more recoverable product and less downtime.

For more information, visit Pentair booth 1005 at OTC, or visit pentairseparations.com.