Use of Evaporation for Heavy Oil

Produced Water Treatment

W. HEINS, D. PETERSON
Ionics RCC

For both SAGD and non-SAGD applications, the produced

Abstract water can generally be characterized as predominantly sodium
Heavy oil recovery processes have traditionally used “once chloride brine with high silica and minimal calcium and magne-
through” steam generators (OTSG) to produce high pressure sium. High alkalinity, or carbonate, is present as well. The pro-
steam for injection into geological formations containing heavy duced water generally contains about 4,000 mg/l total dissolved
oil. The heat given up by the condensing steam fluidizes the solids but can be much higher depending on the geological contri-
heavy oil and allows the oil/water mixture to be brought to the bution. Dissolved and emulsified organics (oil) are present at a va-
surface. The oil is recovered as product and the water, referred riety of levels, depending on the oil separation processes used.
to as produced water, is de-oiled and treated for feedwater to the This paper compares and contrasts the traditional physical-
OTSG. The typical treatment method for produced water is warm chemical produced water treatment methods with an alternate
or hot lime softening (WLS or HLS), filtration, and weak acid approach which is currently being used in Alberta—falling film,
cation exchange (WAC). vertical tube, vapour compression evaporation. The technical and
An alternative method of produced water treatment is vertical economic advantages of the evaporative approach will be dis-
tube, falling film, vapour compression evaporation. This method: cussed and compared to traditional methods.
1) eliminates physical-chemical produced water treatment; 2) re- Use of conventional or “packaged” boilers, in conjunction with
sults in lower life cycle costs; 3) does not produce any softener the evaporative approach, will be discussed in lieu of OTSG. Treat-
sludge for disposal; 4) minimizes the number and volume of ment of the concentrated evaporator blowdown stream to “zero
waste streams requiring disposal; 5) requires fewer maintenance liquid discharge” will also be discussed for circumstances where
materials and less maintenance labour; 6) reduces the required deep well injection is not an option.
amount of produced water de-oiling equipment; 7) dramatically
increases OTSG feed water quality, improving OTSG reliability;
and, 8) provides increased system availability and reliability.
For steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) processes, which Traditional Produced Water Treatment
require 100% quality steam, it has the added advantage of pro- Oilfield produced water has been processed in a variety of dif-
ducing water of sufficient quality for use in standard packaged ferent ways. Several methods have been used to manage and re-
boilers in lieu of OTSG. Packaged boilers are less expensive cover this water. Produced water is a resource to generate steam,
than OTSG, produce a much smaller liquid blowdown stream, but it has to be treated and the boiler design must compliment the
and result in a boiler feed system which is 20% smaller than that degree of water treatment.
of an OTSG. Currently, in the majority of SAGD and non-SAGD heavy oil
recovery applications, produced water is treated in multiple steps
requiring silica, calcium, and magnesium reduction. The oil is re-
Introduction moved to as low a level as is feasible by a polishing step prior
to these inorganic reductions. The treated water can then go to
Heavy oil recovery requires large volumes of water commen- an OTSG that can produce high-pressure steam (typically 7,000
surate in volume to the production of oil that it yields. Water is – 11,000 kPa, or 1,000 – 1,600 psig) from water that has high TDS
used in the form of steam to heat the geological formations that (typically 2,000 – 8,000 mg/l) of dissolved inorganic and organic
hold the oil. The oil is fluidized by the condensing steam and the content.
oil/water mixture is pumped to the surface. The oil and water are
separated. The oil is recovered as product and the water, referred Traditional Produced Water Treatment
to as produced water, is de-oiled and treated for reuse in the steam System
generator.
Figure 1 shows a traditional produced water treatment system
Traditionally, “once-through” steam generators (OTSG) have
after a variety of oil separation processes have been used to re-
been used to produce 80% quality steam (80% vapour, 20% liquid) cover oil and remove oil from the water. This method of produced
for injection into the well. A relatively new heavy oil recovery water treatment has been applied to both SAGD and non-SAGD
process, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), requires 100% applications. The process that reduces silica to low enough levels
quality steam to be injected into the well (i.e., no liquid water). To to be used in an OTSG is either a warm or hot lime softener (WLS
produce 100% quality steam using OTSG, a series of vapour-liquid or HLS) followed by a filtration system. Calcium and magnesium
separators are required to separate the liquid water from the steam. are also reduced in the lime softener, which lightens the load for
The 100% quality steam is then injected into the well. the weak acid cation (WAC) ion exchange system. The major
PEER REVIEWED PAPER (“REVIEW AND PUBLICATION PROCESS” CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEB SITE)

26 Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

 FIGURE 2: Falling film, vertical tube, vapour compressor evapora-
FIGURE 1: Traditional produced water treatment system. tor system.

chemicals added in the softener are lime and magnesium oxide. • Overall life cycle costs are less for an evaporative produced
These chemical systems require chemical silos and solids transport water treatment system than for a traditional lime softening/
equipment. Other chemical additions are also required in the form WAC approach.
of a coagulant and a polymer. The chemical additions reduce silica • Physical separation processes using solid chemical additions
content to manageable levels for the OTSG. are eliminated.
The clarate is filtered prior to being treated with the WAC ion • High water solids content sludges are eliminated.
exchange system, which reduces magnesium and calcium. Sludge • Waste streams requiring further disposal treatment are
produced from this softening process has high water content and eliminated.
is separated with a centrifuge. The sludge is disposed. Centrate is • Oil removal equipment can be reduced.
recycled back to the process. • Boiler blowdown and heat recovery equipment can be re-
duced in size.
The WAC ion exchange system is regenerated with hydrochloric • Overall operational and maintenance requirements are
acid and caustic. Reduction of metals such as calcium, magnesium, reduced.
and iron to low levels occurs in the exchange process. WAC does • Overall water treatment system reliability and availability are
not reduce silica any further than the lime softening process. The increased.
strong regeneration waste is neutralized and possibly recycled to • OTSG reliability is dramatically improved.
the softening system or disposed in some other manner. The resin • Overall oil recovery process availability is increased.
bed rinses are recycled back to the softening system. • The use of conventional steam boilers is possible due to dra-
Conventional treatment of produced water being processed in matically increased boiler feedwater quality.
a OTSG produces a blowdown which is about 20% of the boiler • Use of conventional boilers reduces capital costs by elimi-
feedwater volume and results in a brine stream which is about five- nating vapour/liquid separators, and reducing the size of the
fold the concentration of the boiler feed. This stream must be dis- boiler feed system by 20%.
posed of by deep well injection or, if there is limited or no deep • If zero liquid discharge (ZLD) is required due to a lack of dis-
well capacity, by further concentrating the blowdown with a zero posal well capability, the evaporative approach to produced
liquid discharge brine concentrator and crystallizer system, pro- water treatment results in a ZLD system that is about 80%
ducing a dry solid for disposal. Some of the OTSG blowdown can smaller than that required if the physical-chemical produced
be recycled to the softener system but as the solids are cycled up in water treatment approach is used.
the system, more maintenance issues are evident in the OTSG.
Falling Film, Vertical Tube, Vapour
Compression Evaporators
Alternate Evaporative Method of Treating Falling film, vertical tube evaporators have the highest heat
Produced Water transfer characteristics of all evaporator types. A high heat transfer
coefficient is needed to efficiently evaporate the water and save en-
The traditional de-oiling, softening, filtration, and ion exchange ergy. The falling film, vertical tube arrangement also allows evap-
produced water treatment scheme depicted in Figure 1 is complex, oration to occur with reduced fouling effects by keeping surfaces
costly, produces several waste streams requiring disposal, is labour wetted at all times. Individual tube distributors are used to ensure
intensive, and requires the use of OTSG and vapour/liquid separa- an even falling film in these evaporators.
tion systems to produce the desired steam quality for SAGD pro- The vapour compression cycle is the key to energy efficiency in
cesses. An alternate approach to produced water treatment, which these systems. The amount of energy input for the vapour compres-
is simpler, more cost effective, more reliable, and which reduces sion evaporation cycle is about 1/20th the energy needed to evaporate
the size and complexity of the steam generation system, is desir- water. This is because of the nature of the thermodynamic cycle,
able. Falling film, vertical tube, vapour compression evaporation which does not have to provide the energy to vapourize the water.
is an approach currently being implemented in Alberta, which ob- The compression energy is used to elevate the existing steam tem-
tains these objectives. This simplified method of produced water perature without having to provide the initial energy to evaporate
treatment is shown in Figure 2. the water. The steam temperature (and pressure) is elevated, and
is then condensed, transferring heat to the brine for evaporation,
This approach to produced water treatment involves direct treat- which produces steam for the compression cycle.
ment of the produced water in an evaporation system. The lime A simplified falling film, vertical tube, vapour compression
softener (WLS or HLS), filtration, WAC exchange systems, and evaporator system used to treat produced water is shown in Figure
certain de-oiling steps are eliminated. 2. This system requires fewer components and is much simpler
Evaporation can be applied to SAGD and non-SAGD heavy to operate than the traditional produced water treatment system
oil production to recover up to 98% of the produced water as depicted in Figure 1. Additional details showing the vapour com-
high quality distillate (<10 mg/l non-volatile inorganic TDS) for pression cycle are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4. A photograph
use in OTSG or conventional boilers. Using evaporation as the of a typical falling film, vapour compression evaporator, similar
treatment process instead of lime softening and WAC has several to those being implemented in Alberta SAGD applications, is pre-
advantages: sented in Figure 5.
January 2005, Volume 44, No. 1 27
 FIGURE 3: Simplified falling film, vapour compression, evaporator system.

Brine
Distributors Vent

Waste
Brine
Deaerator

Heat Exchanger
Wastewater

Distillate

Distillate
Pump

Recirculation Compressor
Pump

FIGURE 4: Falling film, vertical tube, vapour compression evaporator schematic.

De-oiled produced water enters a feed tank where the pH is ad- The OTSG or conventional boiler blowdown can be recycled to
justed. The wastewater is pumped to a heat exchanger that raises its the evaporator feed, eliminating the need to dispose of this waste
temperature to the boiling point. It then goes to a deaerator, which stream, without affecting recovered water quality. The evaporator
removes non-condensable gases, such as oxygen. Hot deaerated blowdown is disposed of via deep well injection, or treated further
feed enters the evaporator sump, where it combines with the recir- by a crystallizer. Utilization of a crystallizer would eliminate all
culating brine slurry. The slurry is pumped to the top of a bundle liquid wastes making the entire system a zero discharge system.
of two-inch heat transfer tubes, where it flows through individual (The crystallizer produces a dry cake material for disposal.) A pho-
tube distributors which ensure a smooth, even flow of brine down tograph of a typical zero liquid discharge crystallizer system, sim-
each tube. As the brine flows down the tubes, a small portion evap- ilar to those recently installed in Alberta, is presented in Figure 6.
orates and the rest falls into the sump to be recirculated.
The vapour travels down the tubes with the brine, and is drawn
up through mist eliminators on its way to the vapour compressor.
Compressed vapour flows to the outside of the heat transfer tubes, The Economics of the Evaporator
where its latent heat is given up to the cooler brine slurry falling Process
inside. As the vapour gives up heat, it condenses as distilled water.
The distillate is pumped back through the heat exchanger, where it The economic comparison of the traditional lime treatment and
gives up sensible heat to the incoming wastewater. A small amount WAC system with that of an evaporator requires not only the stan-
of the brine slurry is continuously released from the evaporator to dard installed capital and operating expenses of each of these sys-
control density. tems, but also the economic impact of reduced ancillary equipment
28 Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology
 FIGURE 5: Typical falling film, vertical tube, vapour compression
evaporative system. FIGURE 6: Typical zero liquid discharge crystallizer system.

associated with the evaporator system. Other factors which must feedwater in SAGD and non-SAGD heavy oil recovery
be included in the economic evaluation include the increased oil operations.
production and shorter equipment delivery times realized with the 2. The overall life cycle costs are less for an evaporative pro-
evaporation approach, and the reduced size of the zero liquid dis- duced water treatment system than for a traditional lime
charge system if deep well disposal is not an option. softening/WAC approach.
One significant economic advantage of using a falling film, 3. The evaporative produced water treatment approach results
vertical tube, evaporator system is the on-line reliability and in an increase of about 2% – 3% in heavy oil recovery plant
redundancy associated with these systems. The evaporative pro- availability, directly resulting in increased oil production.
duced water treatment approach results in an increase of about 2% 4. Installed capital and operating costs are less for the evapora-
– 3% in overall heavy oil recovery plant availability as compared tive approach when credits are taken for reduced oil sepa-
to a conventional lime treatment process. This increase in on-line ration equipment, reduced boiler blowdown equipment,
availability relates directly to increased oil production and an eco- reduced zero liquid discharge system size (if required),
nomic advantage over the life of the plant. and elimination of the lime softening, filtration, and WAC
The use of a falling film, vertical tube, evaporator system equipment.
eliminates certain oil separation pre-treatment steps, lime soft- 5. Further economic savings can be realized when conventional
ening equipment, and ion-exchange equipment, thus improving boiler systems are used in lieu of OTSG systems, reducing
the system economics. A smaller boiler blowdown facility also re- capital costs of the boiler system, eliminating the need for
sults from having a much higher quality feedwater to the OTSG. costly vapour/liquid separation equipment, reducing the size
With evaporator distillate, an overall blowdown rate of 5% can be of the boiler feed system by as much as 15%, and reducing
achieved from the OTSG. the boiler blowdown by as much as 90%.
6. Zero liquid discharge, if required, is more easily attain-
Another possibility to further save capital and operating ex- able with the evaporative produced water treatment ap-
pense is to use conventional boilers in place of OTSG. This is pos- proach. A relatively small crystallizer is all that is required.
sible since the distillate produced by the evaporator is of sufficient If zero liquid discharge is required using the traditional lime
quality to be used as feed to a conventional boiler, possibly fol- softening/WAC produced water treatment system, a large
lowing a final polishing step. Use of conventional boilers reduces brine concentrator and a crystallizer would be required.
the boiler feed system and evaporative produced water treatment
system size by 20%, eliminates the vapour/liquid separation equip-
ment, and reduces the boiler blowdown flowrate by about 90%. NOMENCLATURE
OTSG = Once through steam generator
WLS = Warm lime softening
Conclusions HLS = Hot lime softening
SAGD = Steam assisted gravity drainage
1. Falling film, vertical tube, evaporation is a technically and WAC = Weak acid cation
economically viable process to recover more than 98% of TDS = Total dissolved solids
the produced water as high quality distillate for use as boiler ZLD = Zero liquid discharge
January 2005, Volume 44, No. 1 29
REFERENCES Authors· Biographies
1. HEINS, B., Case Study: Zero Liquid Discharge Wastewater Recy-
cling System at Apache Nitrogen Products; prepared for presentation Bill Heins is the vice president of process
at the Ammonium Nitrate Producers Study Group, Sandestin, FL, No- engineering and business development and
vember 4 – 6, 1997. a zero liquid discharge specialist for Ionics
2. SOLOMON, R.L., SCHOOLEY K.E., and GRIFFIN, S.J., The Ad- RCC, Bellevue, Washington. Bill is a chem-
vantage of Mixed Salt Crystallizers in Zero Liquid Discharge Waste- ical engineering graduate from the Univer-
water Treatment Systems; paper IWC-98-50, prepared for presenta- sity of Wisconsin and has been with Ionics
tion at the International Water Conference, October 1998. RCC for the past 12 years. Since joining
3. HEINS, B. and SCHOOLEY, K., Achieving Zero Liquid Discharge in
Ionics RCC, Bill has worked on the devel-
SAGD Heavy Oil Recovery; prepared for presentation at the Cana-
dian International Petroleum Conference, June 11 – 13, 2002. opment and implementation of the B.E.S.T.
Solvent Extraction process for remediation
of organic contaminated soils and, for the
Provenance—Original Petroleum Society manuscript, Use of Evapo- past eight years, has specialized in the design and implementation
ration for Heavy Oil Produced Water Treatment (2003-178), first of zero liquid discharge systems, brine concentrators, and crystal-
presented at the 4th Canadian International Petroleum Conference (the 54th lizers. Bill was responsible for the implementation of the world’s
Annual Technical Meeting of the Petroleum Society), June 10-12, 2003, in first two-SAGD zero liquid discharge systems, which were re-
Calgary, Alberta. Abstract submitted for review December 16, 2002; edito- cently provided by Ionics RCC to facilities in northern Alberta.
rial comments sent to the author(s) November 2, 2004; revised manuscript
Prior to joining Ionics RCC, Bill was a nuclear engineer in the
received November 10, 2004; paper approved for pre-press November 15,
2004; final approval December 15, 2004.
United States Naval Submarine Program.

Dan Peterson is a senior process engineer

with Ionics RCC, Bellevue, Washington.
Dan is a chemical engineering graduate
from Washington State University and has
been with Ionics RCC for the past 25 years.
During this time, Dan has researched, de-
signed, specified, and started up numerous
water treatment systems in the power gen-
eration, oil recovery, coal gasification,
aerospace, and agricultural chemical manu-
facturing fields. During the past 15 years,
Dan has been responsible for the successful development and im-
plementation of integrated water treatment systems requiring zero
liquid discharge. This work required the development of the mixed
salt crystallizer process in order to achieve the stringent demands for
zero liquid discharge systems. Dan was responsible for the testing,
design, and process implementation of the world’s first two-SAGD
zero liquid discharge systems, which were recently provided by
Ionics RCC to facilities in northern Alberta. Prior to joining
Ionics RCC, Dan was a research and development engineer in the
electronics, energy, and forest products industries, developing a
variety of processes incorporating expanded and efficient produc-
tion techniques.

30 Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology