Produced Water Management

– Solving “Scale /Solids”

Accumulation- Case Study
 Acknowledgement
We appreciate the help from Freese and
Nichols, Inc. on the overall testing program.

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 Problem Statement
• Solids Build Up in Produced Water Pipeline
• Solids and Emulsion Build Up in Oil Water
Separators, Storage Tanks, and Other
Production Equipment at SWD Battery
• Increase SWD LOE, Reduced Pipeline
Capacity, Potential to Curtail Production

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 Typical Response
• Scaling Problem?
o Add more scale inhibitors
o Switch scale inhibitors
• Biomass Problem?
o Inject biocides
o Switch biocides
• Iron Problem?
o Inject iron control reagent
o Include iron treatment process

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 Our Approach
• Analyze the Solid / Scale
o Obtain samples from representative locations
o Find out what are the major components
• Analyze the Water
o Track the source of the solid / scale
o Track the change of water quality throughout the system
• Bench Scale Test & Field Trial
o Bench scale treatability test to determine treatment
methods
o Field trial to confirm the treatment methods

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Case Study – System Overview
Barstow Water Gathering System
• 6 permitted SWDs (4 active)
• 30 miles of gathering pipe
• 45 delivery points across multiple
productive intervals
• First flow in 3Q 2015
• 100% operational in 1Q 2016
• 35,000 - 40,000 BWPD gross system
throughput

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 Case Study – Impacts to Operations
• Decreased hydraulic performance due
to scale accumulation
– Mechanical or chemical remediation

• Sub-optimal oil/water separation at

SWDs
– Design is <50 ppm TPH in injection stream

• Increased operator intervention at

SWDs
– Decreased mean-volume between filter
changes
– Inaccurate level readings
– Equipment and labor-intensive skim oil
recovery processes

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 Case Study – Solid / Scale Analysis

 Visually, the sludge is with high moisture and oil content.

 Sample was tested for moisture (Dean Stark), oil (toluene extraction) and inorganic species
analysis (XRD + XRF).

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 Tank Sludge / Solid Composition Analysis - XRD

Oil, 46.9%

NaCl, 3.5%
Pyrite,
Other, 5.7%
Moisture, 47.4% 0.4%
CaCO3,
0.6%

Magnetite, 0.6%

CaMg(CO3)2, 0.6%

 High oil contain.

 5.7% is inorganic solid.
 Presence of NaCl crystal could be due to high TDS.
 Calcite, Magnetite, Pyrite are commonly seen.

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Tank Sludge / Solid Composition Analysis - XRF
Element %
Cl 20.3
Fe 14.0
S 10.5  XRF Results confirm the
Ca 4.8 finding through XRD
Si 0.4
 Fe, S, Ca, Na and Cl should
P 0.3
Sr 0.2 be the major elements
Al 0.2
K 0.2
Ba 0.1
Ti 0.1
Zn 0.1
V 0.0
Cr 0.0
Au 0.0
Rb 0.0
Bi 0.0
Pd 0.0
Se 0.0
As 0.0
Mo 0.0
Bal 48.7

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 Elemental Analysis of Scale Sample - 2

Others, 1.25%

Solids, 2.30%

Oil, 55.10%

S, 0.01%
Cr, 0.01%
Water, 42.60%
Ti, 0.02% Fe, 0.35%
Ca, 0.03%
Al, 0.16% Si, 0.20% Cl, 0.27%

Water Oil Fe Cl Si Al Ca Ti Cr S Others

 55.1% of the scale sample was oil (organic matter). Could be paraffin, asphaltenes
or broken gels?
 The majority of the solid was iron, silica and salt

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 Elemental Analysis of Scale Sample 3

Al, 2.76%
Si, 6.35% Ca, 2.50% Cl, 1.56%

Mg, 1.36%
S, 0.98%
Oil, 41.20%
Solid, 49.10%
Fe, Solids,
18.13% 15.45%

Water, 9.70%

Water Oil Fe Si Al Ca Cl Mg S Others

 49.1% of the scale sample was solid.

 The majority of the solid was iron, silica, Ca and Mg scale, clay minerals, sulfur and
salt

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 Case Study – Solid / Scale Analysis

Is this still a solid / scale problem?

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 Water Quality Analysis
• Samples were taken at 45 tank batteries and 3
SWDs
• Produced Water Qualities at Tank Batteries and
SWDs
Basic Water Quality
Cations / Anions
Scaling Species
Bacteria
• Water Qualities at Different Locations of the
SWDs

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 Basic Water Qualities at Tank Batteries and SWDs
Delaware
Parameter Unit Deeper Targets SWDs
Mountain Group
Temperature °C 37.3 35.5 34.1
Dissolved oxygen mg/L 1.4 2.3 1.5
pH s.u. 7.2 6.2 6.6
Sulfide mg/L 39.6 0 11
Conductivity mS/m 7842 36052 21364
Total Dissolved Solids mg/L 51388 292048 158767

Alkalinity mg-CaCO3/L 865 34 399

Total Suspended Solids mg/L 68 317 181

Turbidity NTU 67 96 114

Specific Gravity [-] 1.040 1.156 1.113
ATP pg/ml 9955 19 1578

The water quality have wide ranges.

On Average:
 Low DO, neutral pH, high sulfide, high TDS
 Mid range TSS and Turbidity
 Low TDS, high bacteria at Delaware Mountain Group; High TDS, low bacteria at Deeper
Targets
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Cations Level for the Water at Tank Batteries and SWDs -
1

 Most of the parameters are with wide ranges

 Na, Ca, Mg are the major cations, there are certain levels of K and NH4+
 Water from Deeper Targets is with higher Na and Ca Levels

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Cations Level for the Water at Tank Batteries and SWDs -2

 Iron levels are lower at Delaware Mountain Group.

 Manganese presents at Deeper Targets and the SWDs
 Barium level is higher at Deeper Targets and SWDs.

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Anions Level for the Water at Tank Batteries and SWDs -1

 Most of the parameters are with wide ranges

 Cl - is the predominant anion.
 SO42- and Br – are normally in the 500 to 1,000 mg/L range.
 Sulfate level is higher at Delaware Mountain Group.

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Anions Level for the Water at Tank Batteries and SWDs -2

 Boron presents in the water samples, mostly under 50 mg/L. Higher level at Delaware
Mountain Group.
 The levels of nitrate, Fluoride and Phosphate are low and negligible.

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 Ions Balance of the Samples
TDS All Ions
600000

500000

400000
mg/L

300000

200000

100000

0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49

 TDS readings are generally higher than the sum of all the ions.
 Need to pay attention to the testing methods for the TDS testing.

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 Charge Balance of the Samples
Cations Anions
6000

5000

4000
mmol/L

3000

2000

1000

0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49

 Anions charge appears to be higher than the cations charge.

 Filtration of samples prior to cations testing could have contributed to the difference.
 Always double check the testing methods.

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 Scaling Species for the Water at Tank Batteries and
SWDs

 Ca and Mg are the major scaling species, Ba level is low

 Bicarbonate level is mostly under 500 mg/L and averaged around 300 mg/L.
 Ca level is high at Deeper Targets, while the Sulfate level is higher at Delaware Mountain
Group.

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Scaling Index for the CaSO4 and BaSO4 for the Water at
Tank Batteries and SWDs (25ͦC)

 Positive SI indicates the potential to form scale

 Out of the 50 samples, 46 sampling had positive SI for both BaSO4 and CaSO4; 1 sample had
positive SI for BaSO4 while negative SI for CaSO4; only 3 samples are with negative SI for
both BaSO4 and CaSO4.
 The scaling tendency of the water at the SWDs is higher due to the mixing of water from
different sources

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ATP (Bacteria) Level for the Water at Tank Batteries and
SWDs
Delaware Mountain Group Deeper Targets SWDs
25

20
# of Wells

15

10

0
<500 500-1000 1000-5000 >5000

# of Samples with Different Ranges of ATP Level

 Out of the 50 samples, 27 of the samples were with low ATP (bacteria) level (< 500 pg/ml). 9
samples were with relatively high ATP level (1,000-5,000 pg/ml) while 23 samples were with
extremely high ATP level (> 5,000 pg/ml).
 Bacteria growth appears to be an issue for a good portion of the tank batteries and SWDs,
especially at Delaware Mountain Group.

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 Bacteria Growth at the SWDs
1000000
100000
10000
CFU/ml

1000
100
10
1
Ballpark 20D SWD Barstow 26-20D SWD Arco State 33-28 SWD
SRB 1200 0 0
IRB 500 0 0
APB 150 800000 0

APB IRB SRB

 Bacteria is detected at Ballpark 20D and Barstow 26-20D, while it is not detected for the
sample from Arco State.
 At Ballpark 20D, most of the bacteria is SRB
 At Barstow 26-20D, only APB is detected, but the level is high

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 Water Qualities at Different Locations of the SWDs
Iron Sulfide
3.5
14.0
3.0
12.0
2.5
10.0
2.0

mg/L
8.0
mg/L

1.5
6.0
1.0
4.0
0.5
2.0
0.0
0.0
Inlet After ClO2 After OWS Before wellhead
Inlet After ClO2 After OWS Before
wellhead Arco State 33-28 SWD Ballpark 20D SWD Barstow 26-20D SWD
Arco State 33-28 SWD Ballpark 20D SWD Barstow 26-20D SWD

ATP  Samples were taken at the Inlet, right after the ClO 2
5000 injection, after the Oil/Water Separators and right before
4500
4000 the well heads
3500
3000  Iron level fluctuates as the water flows through the
pg/ml

2500
2000 facility. The level at Barstow is higher than at Arco Sate
1500
1000 and Ballpark
500
0  Sulfide level is low at all three SWDs, while it fluctuates
After After Before
Inlet
ClO2 OWS wellhead
throughout the facility
Arco State 33-28 SWD 105 58 212 963  The ATP level at Arco State and Barstow is relatively low,
Ballpark 20D SWD 4521 2307 1719 2403 while it is high throughout the whole facility of Ballpark.
Barstow 26-20D SWD 106 433 8

Arco State 33-28 SWD Ballpark 20D SWD Barstow 26-20D SWD

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 Case Study – Bench Scale Analysis

• How can we break the solid?

• How can we prevent the forming of the
solid?

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 Tank Sludge / Solid Break Test – Acetone Dissolution

Sludge Sample in Acetone Solution Substance Captured by Filter after Dissolution

 Little amount of the sludge dissolved into the acetone solution.

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 Tank Sludge / Solid Break Test – Hexane Dissolution

Sludge Sample in Hexane Solution Substance Captured by Filter after Dissolution

 Little amount of the sludge dissolved into the hexane solution.

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 Tank Sludge / Solid Break Test– Diesel Dissolution

Sludge Sample in Diesel Solution Filtering of Diesel / Sludge Mixture

 Fast dissolving of the majority of the sludge.

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 Tank Sludge / Solid Break Test – H2SO4 Digestion

Sludge Sample in H2SO4 Solution Sludge Sample after H2SO4 Digestion Solution

 Small percentage of sludge dissolved in the acid solution.

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 Tank Sludge / Solid Sample Dissolution Test

 Two tank sludge/ solid samples were collected, one from Barstow 26-20D, the other one
from Ballpark 20D
 With the suspicion that most of the sludge is paraffin, tests were conducted by dissolving
the sludge with paraffin solvent at room temperature to check the solid/ water / paraffin
separation.

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Dissolution of Tank Sludge / Solid Sample from Barstow
26-20D

 Good oil/water/solid separation was

observed
 The paraffin solvent we chose appears to
be effective

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Dissolution of Tank Sludge / Solid Sample from Ballpark
20D

Begin of the Test End of the Test

 As it is shown in the centrifuge tube, there is good separation of

oil/water/solid after the dissolution

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 Summary
• Start the approach from Solid / Scale
analysis
• Paraffin is the major issue other than
inorganic scales in this case
• Water qualities need to be investigated with
a holistic program
• Testing methods need to be verified.
• Bench scale test treatability test can be an
important step in the approach.

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 Contact Information
• Brad Whitnell
– Midstream Manager, Jetta Operating Company, Inc.
– bwhitnell@JettaOperating.com
• Jinxuan Hu
– Engineering Manager, Hydrozonix, LLC
– jhu@hydrozonix.com

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Thank You

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