Apparatus and process for treatment of water

摘要

The invention relates to the treatment of water, including for example treatment in connection with hydrocarbon production operations. Silica in water produces undesirable scaling in processing equipment, which causes excess energy usage and maintenance problems. Electrocoagulation (EC) at relatively high water temperature, followed by any of membrane distillation or forward osmosis (FO), may be combined with a subsequent process of ceramic ultra-filtration (UF filtration) employed to treat water. Water to be treated may be produced water that has been pumped from a subterranean reservoir. The treated water may be employed to generate steam. The treatment units (e.g., EC, forward osmosis, UF filtration, etc) can be configured into one system as an on-site installation or a mobile unit for on-site or off-site water treatment.

主权项

1. A method for treating produced water for steam generation, the method comprising:
providing a source of produced water to be treated, the water having contaminants selected from the group of total organic content (TOC) and total dissolved solids (TDS) as silica and hardness ions; removing at least a portion of the silica and hardness ions as suspended solids by subjecting the produced water to an electrocoagulation process; removing at least a substantial portion of the suspended solids in a polymer filtration unit, the filtration unit operating at a temperature of at least about 50 degrees Centigrade; lowering the water temperature of the produced water while the produced water is in the filtration unit; further treating the produced water within the filtration unit, further wherein the filtration unit comprises at least one membrane selected from the following: polyethersulfone (PES) membrane, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membrane, polvvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane, sulfonated polyether ether ketone (PEEK) membrane, Nafion membranes (sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene based fluoropolymer-copolymer), poly(phthalazinone ether sulfone) membrane (PPES), poly(phthalazinone ether ketone) membrane (PPEK), poly(phthalazinone ether fulfone ketone) membrane (PPESK); generating a pre-treated water; treating the pre-treated water in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) unit, wherein the DCMD unit employs a composite membrane comprising a hydrophilic polymer layer and a hydrophobic polymer layer.