Oil, Salt Application:

Disposal of produced saltwater in oil production.

Background:

In the drilling process, oil form oil bearing strata may be accompanied by saltwater which is present in the formation. This saltwater must be separated from the oil and disposed of. After the saltwater has been separated from the oil, it is sent to storage or holding tanks. Disposal is generally done by pumping the saltwater into disposal wells. Prior to pumping the saltwater into the disposal wells it must be filtered to remove undissolved solids such as pipe scale, sand, etc. The filtering process removes the solid contaminants which could plug up the strata at the disposal well.

Generally, dirt load is very high (up to 400-500 ppm) and requires series filtration. Coarse pre-filtration by use of deep bed or dual media filters is necessary. The pre-filters are followed by polish filters which in most instances are cartridge type filters. The polish type filters are arranged such that one or more filter housings are on-line with spare housings on standby. This set-up allows for cartridge change-out without interruption of the process. Micron rating and efficiencies of the cartridge filters is determined by the user based on core analysis of the formation. Micron rating requirements can get down to 2 micron absolute.

Media:

Wound Cartridges, PCC Cartridges, RBC Cartridges & Poly-Mate (PPC) Cartridges

Results:

With the wide variety of cartridges available from PMT Process Filtration, ranging form 0.5 micron absolute (Poly-Mate PPC) up to 125 micron (RBC), the cartridge rating can be tailored to the pore structure of the formation. This wide variety of cartridges will provide the desired micron rating, efficiency and a high dirt holding capacity to minimize cartridge change-out frequency and to protect the pore structure of the formation.

Disposal of produced Ssltwater in oil production: