Case Study 04
Produced Water Treatment in an Oman Heavy Oil Facility
Challenge
An onshore heavy oil facility in Oman was processing approximately 157,000 barrels of crude oil and 1.4 million barrels of water per day. The operator needed to maintain export crude BS&W below 0.6%, while produced-water oil content frequently exceeded the 150 ppm target.
The existing demulsifier was injected at 7–8 ppm across eight injection points.
Solution
Clariant Oil Services conducted bottle tests and field trials to develop a demulsifier suited to the heavy crude and produced-water separation conditions.
The formulation was evaluated under actual field conditions, including winter ambient temperatures as low as 5°C. The injection rate was progressively optimized during the trial.
Results
Following the demulsifier optimization the facility reported:
OIL IN PRODUCED WATER
80 ppm
Lowest reported value; target was 150 ppm
OPTIMIZED DOSAGE
4 ppm
Down from 7–8 ppm
ANNUAL SAVINGS
$600,000
Approximate, reported by the facility
ADDITIONAL EXPORT OIL
27,000 bbl
Per year