Removing Dispersed and Dissolved Hydrocarbons From Water Using Adsorption Media Systems With Multiple Regeneration Processes

Abstract

Clean water is a precious resource in the world. For decades, nations and companies have focused on delivering contaminant-free clean water as a byproduct of industrial processes. ProSep's Osorb Media Systems (OMS) deliver oil free water from the oil and gas industry's most challenging onshore and offshore water treatment applications. OMS not only remove challenging hydrocarbon contaminants from produced water, they do so with high efficiency over a long media life. Osorb uses a physical adsorption mechanism to remove hydrocarbons from water. Additionally, the unique structure of the media enables the adsorption isotherm to be reversed thus releasing the captured hydrocarbons from the media. The regeneration process is completed using a combination of physical and/or thermal processes that enable hydrocarbon recovery. Two pilot tests and one field test were completed demonstrating the OMS treatment and regeneration capabilities for both dispersed and dissolved oil removal. Three different regeneration methods were found to be effective. The first pilot test demonstrated over 99% removal of dissolved hydrocarbons throughout 28 water treatment and steam regeneration cycles. A second pilot test demonstrated a 2.6:1 (wt:wt) recovery of crude oil from Osorb while maintaining efficient water treatment. The field test had eight regenerations (five with steam and three with natural gas) completed and the media maintained 98% removal efficiency and averaged <1 mg/L of dispersed oil in the effluent water. OMS provide a proven technical solution along with the economic feasibility to treat dissolved and dispersed hydrocarbons from water which have proven challenging for the oil and gas industry.