SPE

Society of Petroleum Engineers

SPE 20662

Hydrocyclone Produced Water Treatment for Offshore Developments

M.S. Choi, Conoco Inc.
SPE Member
II
Copyright 1990, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 65th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers held in New Orleans, LA, September 23-26, 1990.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper,
as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society
of Petroleum Engineers. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment
of where and by whom the paper is presented. Write Publications Manager, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836. Telex, 730989 SPEDAL.

ABSTRACT that a facility must process often far

exceeds that of the hydrocarbons. At the
Ever increasing water production and same time, concern for the environment has
more stringent environmental standards resul ted in more stringent standards for
have driven up the cost of produced water discharged water quality. Increasing
disposal. What was once a small consider- awareness of the impact of oil field
ation in the design of production facili- discharges by the industry has accelerated
ties has become a high profile and costly the cleanup efforts. In some cases, self
component of offshore production projects. imposed corporate guidelines are more
The large space and weight requirement for stringent than those allowed by govern-
conventional produced water treatment mental regulations. The combined effect
(PWT) systems (skim tanks, CPI's and of larger volumes and higher level of
flotation cells) could have a large nega- polishing has driven up the cost of
tive impact on the overall economics of a produced water disposal.
deep water development.
conventional produced water treatment
Recent advances in static (PWT) systems, consisting of a low pres-
hydrocyclone technology for PWT has added sure separator, CPI and flotation units,
an attractive alternative to conventional are highly space and weight intensive.
systems. In 1985, Conoco installed a These system usually require costly
small hydrocyclone PWT system on the chemicals and constant attention to be
Murchison platform in the North Sea. The effective. For offshore operations where
success of that first pilot system has weight, space and manpower come at a
lead to the expanded use of the technology premium, PWT facilities have become a high
in other locations in the North Sea and profile and costly component of major
the Arabian Gulf. with the experience projects. Furthermore, operating experi-
gained from the design, testing and ex- ence has shown that conventional PWT
tended operation of these systems, Conoco systems do not work well on floating
has developed a high level of confidence structures. Platform movements tend to
in defining the capabilities and limits of induce excessive turbulence for good
hydrocyclone PWT systems, and the economic gravity settling in CPI's, and too much
benefits possible when applied to offshore wave motion for effective skimming in
projects. flotation cells. So what is the alterna-
tive for cost conscious operators and the
INTRODUCTION many deepwater developments currently
being considered?
Water tends to become the dominant
produced fluid as an oil field matures. STATIC HYDROCYCLONE TECHNOLOGY
with ever increasing water cut, up to 90%
or higher, the volume of produced water It has been said that "necessity is
the mother of invention." Recent advances
References and illustrations at end of in static ,pydrocyclone technology have
paper. ,

473
2 HYDROCYCLONE PRODUCED WATER TREATMENT FOR OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENTS

added an attractive alternative to conven- centrifugal force necessary to separate

tional PWT systems. within certain oper- the extremely small oil droplets. Other
ating limits, hydrocyclones have proved to geometrical features also distinguish the
be effective in reducing oil-in-water oil/water hydrocyclone from the typical
content to environmentally acceptable liquid/solid desander.
levels.
High pressure oily water enters the
In contrast to a conventional PWT cyclone through an inlet where the fluid
system, hydrocyclones provide offshore velocity is accelerated. In the body of
operators the benefits of light weight, the cyclone, the tangential velocity is
compact size, easy and reliable operation, redirected into rotational motions and a
low maintenance, complete insensitivity to high velocity vortex flow is established.
platform motions, low utility requirements As the fluid travels down the length of
and highly predictable capacity. In many the cyclone, the strong vortex is main-
cases, good performance is achieved with- tained by the gentle taper. Frictional
out the use of chemicals. As water pro- losses are offset by the gradual reduction
duction increases, additional in cyclone cross-sectional area. with the
hydrocyclones can be added without exten- gentle taper geometry, maximum residence
sive piping modifications or costly con- time is provided for separation at the
struction barge time. This unique feature peak centrifugal force.
allows operators the flexibility to phase
in PWT capacity as it is needed. All this Through centrifugal acceleration, the
often adds up to lower costs for a non denser water phase is forced outward to
revenue producing function, and provides a the wall of the cyclone, and the lighter
cost effective alternative for meeting oil phase is displaced toward the central
stringent corporate guidelines and core. Clean water is removed as the
environmental standards. underflow at a downstream outlet. oil and
gas are drawn into the low pressure core
CONOCO'S EXPERIENCE and flow upstream, counter-currently with
the swirling water. This concentrated oil
Conoco's first hydrocyclone PWT stream is directed through a small orifice
installation was a small system located on and out to a skim tank for recycling. The
a fixed platform in the North Sea. The gas that is rejected with the oil may have
system consists of six, "35mm" 4-in-l been entrained in the inlet water, or
hydrocyclone units operating in parallel. evolved as the result of pressure drop in
The rated capacity of the system is 75 the cyclone.
MBWPD. The success of that initial pilot
has lead to expanded use of the technology oil removal, as the overflow stream,
in other locations in the North Sea and is made possible by maintaining the oily
the Arabian Gulf. A notable successful rej ect pressure lower than that of the
application is the retrofit of an 140 clean water. This is achieved by imposing
MBWPD system on a North Sea tension leg a relatively large back pressure on the
platform. The ability to meet discharge clean water outlet, usually with the
standards on the floating structure can be production separator water level control
directly attributed to the unique valve (Figure 2). This serves to regulate
characteristics of hydrocyclones. throughput and to limit the pressure drops
To-date, Conoco has a total of 550 MBWPD in the cyclone, while insuring adequate
of hydrocyclone PWT capacity currently in pressure remains to push the oily reject
operation and an additional 255 MBWPD in stream out of the system. Retaining
the design stage. Al though Conoco does sufficient energy to effect oily reject
not currently have any hydrocyclone in removal is the parameter that dictates the
operation in the U.S., studies have shown flow capacity of the hydrocyclone.
the economics of an 120 MBWPD system for a
Gulf of Mexico installation to be very STANDARD HYDROCYCLONE SIZES
favorable. Preliminary design on the
system has been initiated. Due to practical considerations,
hydrocyclones have been standardized in
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION two sizes at the current time: 35mm and
60mm. The size refers to the "critical"
The principle of operation of the diameter of the hydrocyclone (see Figure
static hydrocyclone for PWT is similar to 1) which is located at the transition
the cyclone desander commonly found in the between the swirl chamber/concentric
oil field, in that centrifugal force reducing section and the fine taper
induced by the vortex is the mechanism by section. It is at that interface that the
which the inlet oil and water phases are inlet tangential velocity is fUlly
classified by particle size and density. converted to axial acceleration, and the
However unlike the desander, PWT cyclones highest centrifugal force is achieved.
are long and narrow as shown in Figure 1.
This provides a gentle taper which is more In general, the capacity of a
suited to develop and maintain the high hydrocyclone at a given inlet pressure is

474
SPE 20662 MICHAEL S. CHOI 3

related to its size. Therefore, the may be twice that amount. For an existing
larger the cyclone, the higher its operation in need of additional PWT capac-
capacity. However, the larger units also ity, the large area needed to accommodate
demand a higher minimum operating a conventional system may very well dic-
pressure. Whereas the 35mm unit becomes tate-a new platform.
effective at about 60 psig, the 60mm unit
requires 90 psig. For a given cyclone, In contrast, the equivalent capacity
the capacity of the unit increases with static hydrocyclone system could be mount-
pressure. This power function ed on a skid with the dimensions of 8'W x
relationship is presented graphically in 24'L x 8'H for a total footprint of 192
Figure- 3. square feet. This is generally small
enough for most platforms to accommodate.
STRUCTURAL DESIGN AND PACKAGING If the available space is not contiguous
or of the proper shape, the hydrocyclones
The structural design of the PWT can be placed individually in the avail-
hydrocyclones is based on a liner within able space and piped for parallel opera-
an outer pressure vessel (Figure 4). The tion. with proper manifolding, the per-
functional cyclone geometry is formed by a formance of a system with cyclones on
relatively thin liner, usually constructed opposite sides of the platform will not
of stainless steel. Fluid pressure is differ from one mounted on a single skid.
transferred through the liner and the Since the centrifugal acceleration in the
fluid-filled annular space to the outer hydrocyclones may be upward of 500 G's,
pressure-bearing vessel. with proper flow the units are not affected by gravity.
distribution, numerous liners can be This allows the added flexibility of
installed in a single vessel (Figure 5), mounting the cyclones either in the verti-
and mUltiple units can be piped in paral- cal, horizontal or inclined configurations
lel to provide the total capacity required depending on the space available and
(Figure 6). operator preference.

The decision between more liners per Figure 7 is a photo of the vertically
unit, or smaller but more units to provide mounted system in one of Conoco's offshore
the needed capacity is one of economics facilities. It may be of interest to note
and operating flexibility requirements. that the two 6'x 12' skids contain 135
Large units of various configurations have MBWPD of hydrocyclone PWT capacity. with
been proposed. The 24" diameter, 14-in-1 the height limitations in the North Sea
(14 liners in one pressure vessel) appears type production modules, many units are
to be a good compromise between lower cost mounted horizontally. Figure 8 is an
(offered by the larger units) and example of such a system. The
flexibility. The outer vessel- of the hydrocyclones were retrofitted into the
hydrocyclone unit is designed and con- limited space availaple within one of the
structed according to standard pressure production modules on the platform.
vessel codes (ASME section VIII in the
U.S.). Externally, the hydrocyclone unit Light weight - Hydrocyclones are not
resembles a small diameter, flanged end, only less space intensive than a conven-
oil field vessel. tional system, they are also much lighter
in weight. Since gravity separation is
ATTRACTIVE FEATURES enhanced by longer residence time, a
conventional PWT system contains large
For those locations where the primary volumes of water and the associated
oil and water separation pressure is ade- weight. The mUlti-gravity separation
quately high, static hydrocyclones have force imposed by the hydrocyclones allows
proven to be as effective as conventional the residence time to be reduced dramati-
PWT methods in reducing oil-in-water cally. The produced water typically
content to environmentally acceptable resides in the cyclones for 2 seconds.
levels. At the same time, it offers many The operating weight for the 120,000 BWPD
engineering and operational advantages system in the above example based on the
over conventional systems. conventional design is about 510, 000
pounds. A comparable hydrocyclone system
Compact size The one obvious weighs only 90,000 pounds.
feature of a static hydrocyclone PWT
system is its compactness. When compared Flexible Nodular Design, - Static
to a conventional system, hydrocyclones hydrocyclone units qan be added as water
may require one tenth of the platform production increases without incurring
space. For example, an 120,000 BWPD cost premiums. The dry weight of the
conventional system (consisting of a flow largest hydrocyclone is less than 10 tons.
splitter/skimmer vessel, two 60,000 BWPD This is' well within the lifting capability
flotation uni ts and a skimmed oil sump of most platform cranes. On congested
tank) may have an equipment footprint of platforms, the units are light enough to
1,725 square feet. When piping and access be "manhandled" into small areas. The
areas are added, the total space required light and modular characteristics of the

475
4 HYDROCYCLONE PRODUCED WATER TREATMENT FOR OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENTS SPE 2066:1

standard oil Field Controls - Since

hydrocyclones allow the designer to mini- the cyclones are completely static, they
mize initial capital investment and free are nothing more than conduits between the
valuable offshore real estate that would production separator and its water level
otherwise be occupied by equipment that control valve. As long as enough cyclones
may not be needed for many years. Conoco are placed in parallel operation, no other
retrofitted a hydrocyclone system on a control is required. In contrast, flota-
North pea tension leg platform in 1987. tion cells in the conventional systems
It was designed to replace the originally require precise paddle adjustment and gas
installed, but ineffective flotation induction to achieve optimum performance.
units. The initial hydrocyclone system,
which was designed for 70 MBWPD, has been Broad and Predictable operating Range
expanded three times to 140 MBWPD. The Field tests and operating experience
original retrofit and the later additions have confirmed that static hydrocyclones
were achieved without the use of heavy can accommodate flow surges with ease.
lifting equipment or extensive Figure 9 describes the typical
modification to the production module. hydrocyclone efficiency profile. As the
graph indicates, large and rapid flow
Quick start-up and Recovery from variations do not affect cyclone per-
upsets The 2 second fluid residence formance. Turndown ratios of 3 or greater
time in the hydrocyclones means extremely can be expected with adequate inlet pres-
quick start-ups and recovery from separa- sures. This is important for offshore
tor upsets. Unlike flotation units, an systems with central processing facilities
oil slug will affect the cyclone affluent or gas lift operations where large instan-
water quality only as long as it persists. taneous fluid surges are created in the
Seconds after an upset, the cyclone system multi-phase flow lines and risers.
will resume normal performance. In fact,
if the oily reject flow is maintained Since pressure drops in a
above .the oil content of the slug, the hydrocyclone are highly predictable, the
discharge water quality need not be cyclone capacity can be accurately esti-
affected at all. An oil slug, on the mated once the inlet and reject pressures
other hand, will create havoc in a flota- are established. This is in contrast to
tion system for hours if not days. flotation systems where many operators
purchase units with name-plate capacity
Low utility requirement The static twice as much as needed due to operating
hydrocyclone unit itself has no moving uncertainties. The hydraulic capacity
parts. The energy necessary to develop curves shown in Figure 3 have been
the vortex to effect the separation is confirmed in Conoco's tests.
derived from the pressure of the inlet
water. with the exception of the pump to Insensitive to Platform motions
recycle the oily reject, the system has no The high centrifugal acceleration created
need for external utilities. Since a by the vortex flow makes the hydrocyclone
reject rate of 1% to 2% of the inlet flow insensitive to platform motions. Deep
is adequate for most applications (flota- water developments based on a floating
tion units require 10%), the recycle pumps structure may dictate the use of
are typically quite small, less than 5 hydrocyclones for PWT. Conoco learned
horsepower, even for very large PWT sys- this lesson through experience on a
tems. This is especially attractive for tension leg platform. The flotation
those facilities that are short on elec- system originally installed on the
trical power or burdened with high utility platform was not able to meet specs even
costs. in calm sea (by North Sea standards).
Water quality really deteriorates during
Low Maintenance Since the only stormy periods. After three years of
mechanical device in a static hydrocyclone ineffective operation, the flotation units
PWT system is the oily reject recycle were replaced with hydrocyclones. Since
pump, routine maintenance requirement is then, oil content in the discharge water
very low. Fear of flow induced erosion in has consistently remained below the
the cyclones has been expressed by many allowable limit.
potential users. But experience has shown
that this is not a problem with the cur- Little or No Chemical Required - In
rent design. Liner life in excess of 5 most static hydrocyclone applications,
years has been the norm even in systems chemical aids have not been required to
with high sand production. Plugging of produce on-spec water. None of Conoco's
the small reject orifice is the most installations is currently using
common cause of poor cyclone performance. chemicals.
It usually occurs shortly after a system
start-up or a well work-over. High pres- SUITABILITY
sure water backwash is being used success-
fully as a SUbstitute to manual cleaning static hydrocyclones may not be
of the orifice. appropriate for every facility. In low

476
SPE 20662 MICHAEL S. CHOI 5

pressure production systems, it may be a separation effect that approximates

necessary to increase the fluid pressure those in the hydrocyclone operating at the
to the required level with low shear rated flow. After the centrifuge, an 50ml
pumps. This will negate some of the of the "clean" water is then drawn from
advantages possible with a natural-drive the bottom of the sample tube and analyzed
system. To some extent, oil droplets size for oil content. We have found that this
reduction is inevitable when pumping is quick, simple test is very accurate in
required. Hydrocyclone performance is predicting hydrocyclone performance.
governed by Stokes' Law. The mechanical
degradation caused by the pump, compounded CONCLUSION
by smaller oil droplets and higher fluid
viscosity normally associated with low The many attractive features of the
pressure production, makes clean-up more static hydrocyclones add up to lower PWT
difficult. When the mean droplet size cost and more reliable operations. When
falls below 10~, efficiency may be so compared to a conventional system, the
reduced that the ability of the capital investment for a cyclone system
hydrocyclone to meet spec will be in will most likely be higher. However when
jeopardy. operating costs and the associated cost
for deck space are included, hydrocyclones
Decades of research have gone into often provide the lower overall treatment
the development of flocculating chemicals cost.
for flotation operations. In contrast, no
coordinated development has yet been The relative economics of convention-
initiated for hydrocyclone chemicals. The al and hydrocyclone systems are very site
limited tests carried out thus far have specific and must be evaluated for the
been more of a trial and error nature. application. Conoco' s experience in the
Many of the chemicals tested are those North Sea and Arabian Gulf indicates
formulated for flotation processes. They static hydrocyclone PWT systems are very
have proved to be ineffective for cost effective. For floating production
hydrocyclone applications. At the current systems, hydrocyclones are the only proven
time, the industry's understanding of the reliable PWT method available regardless
effects of chemical on hydrocyclone of cost. The reliable and predictable
performance is limited. More resources hydrocyclone performance has helped Conoco
need to be devoted to chemical development minimize our environmental discharges and
before one can confidently claim maintain the high corporate standard
hydrocyclones to be effective in meeting Conoco has adopted.
the required effluent standards at all
locations. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

SCREENING TEST The author thanks Conoco Inc. for its

support and encouragement to pUblish this
How then can a prospective user paper.
determine whether hydrocyclones will be
effective in meeting the required water REFERENCES
quality? The most positive method is an
actual field trial with a single liner 1. Hayes, J.J., Carroll, W.C.,
test unit. A side stream of water may be Fothergill, D.W.J., and Predergast,
taken off the separator and processed G.J.J.: "Hydrocyclones for Treating
through a single liner hydrocyclone unit. Oily Water - Development and Field
The unit efficiency and hydraulic charac- Testing in Bass Strait," OTC 5079,
teristics can be calculated from the Offshore Technology Conference,
system pressures, flows and oil concentra- Houston, Texas (May 6-9, 1985).
tions. Conoco has taken this approach on
all of its installations thus far. 2. Meldrum, N. : "Hydrocyclones: A
Solution to Produced Water Treat-
Field tests with a hydrocyclone are ment," OTC 5594, Offshore Technology
costly, and sometimes difficult to Conference, Houston, Texas (April
arrange. Conoco has experimented with 27-30, 1987).
various simplified methods to simulate the
performance of a hydrocyclone. A static
"laboratory" test using a standard
centrifuge was developed which provides a
good indication of the hydrocyclone
effectiveness on a particular stream. The
test involves collecting a small sample
(typically 100ml) of produced water from
the separator in a centrifuge tube. The
sample is then centrifuged in a standard
centrifuge machine. The RPM and
centrifuge duration is adjusted to provide

477
 OIL • J OILY WATER

OILY WATER
Ps
TANGENTIAL
INLET
Pr
~Pdr*J
CRITICAL
DIAMETER
CONCENTRIC
REDUCING SECTION

FINE TAPERED
OILY REJECT Pd » Pr

Fig. 2-Static hydrocyclone flows.

l
CLEAN WATER
SECTION
,1::10
......
co

Single Medium Spin Units with 2% Reject

7
l--·--·~----_·-r-·---_·_-

~
~ 6 ---_. --+------
CYLINDRICAL
TAIL SECTION ~
~

t] +--+
5

CLEAN
DOWNSTREAM OUTLET

cd rn.
4 -~~~~---
WATER ~
U 0 3
C)~
.P""'4~
,...-.4 ' - "
Fig. 1-Static hydrocyclone flow profile. ~ 2 I f---.---f---------f
cd
~
"d 35m~
_._- _. --_·_-_·t-_·__·· ....
£
o I
o 200
~ I

400 600

Available Delta P, PSI (Inlet-Reject)

Fig. 3-Static hydrocyclone capacity.