Treatment process for produced water and blowdown water
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Publication Number
US-11795070-B2
Publication Date
2023-10-24
Expiration Date
Abstract
This invention provides processes for treating a mixture of produced water and blowdown water comprising introducing produced water (PW) into blowdown water (BD) for forming a PW-BD water mixture, softening the PW-BD water mixture, subjecting the PW-BD water mixture to activated carbon filtration and reverse osmosis membrane desalination. The process generates a product water and a brine by-product.
Core Innovation
The described processes provide integrated treatment of produced water and cooling-tower blowdown water using softening, activated-carbon filtration, and reverse-osmosis membrane desalination. In one configuration, produced water mixes with cooling-tower blowdown water prior to softening, filtration, and reverse-osmosis membrane desalination to yield treated permeate product water and reverse osmosis reject water. Softening reduces concentrations of scale-forming metals including calcium, strontium, barium, and magnesium, while activated-carbon filtration removes total organic carbon.
Additional embodiments treat cooling-tower blowdown water by reverse osmosis or thermal desalination and subsequently combine reject water with produced water for softening and thermal desalination to produce a brine by-product. Performance evaluations report effects of the mixing ratio, water recovery, hydraulic pressure, and temperature on salt rejection, total dissolved solids, and energy consumption. Waste heat and brine electrolysis are utilized as means to reduce treatment energy and chemical costs.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims cover three inventive features directed to processes for treating cooling-tower blowdown water or mixtures of produced water and blowdown water.
Treatment of a produced-water and cooling-tower-blowdown mixture
Mixing produced water and cooling-tower blowdown water, optionally adjusting mixture pH including increasing pH for metal removal, and subjecting the mixture to a softening agent, activated-carbon filtration, and reverse-osmosis membrane desalination to form treated permeate product water and reverse osmosis reject water.
Reverse-osmosis treatment of blowdown water followed by thermal desalination
Softening blowdown water, subjecting it to activated-carbon filtration and reverse-osmosis membrane desalination to yield permeate product water and reverse osmosis reject water, mixing the reject water with produced water, softening the resulting mixture, and subjecting it to thermal desalination to form a brine by-product.
Thermal desalination of blowdown water followed by reject-water treatment
Subjecting blowdown water to thermal desalination to produce product water and reject thermal desalination water, mixing the reject water with produced water, and subjecting the mixture to a softening agent to form a brine by-product.
The claims cover configurations utilizing chemical softening, reverse-osmosis membrane desalination, and thermal desalination to process produced water and blowdown water into treated permeate product water and brine by-products.
Stated Advantages
Waste heat and brine electrolysis are described as means to reduce treatment energy and chemical costs.
The described treatment supports product-water reuse and concentrated-brine generation.
Documented Applications
Treatment of a mixture of produced water and cooling-tower blowdown water using softening, activated-carbon filtration, and reverse osmosis to form treated permeate product water and reverse osmosis reject water.
Processing cooling-tower blowdown water via reverse osmosis, followed by mixing reverse osmosis reject water with produced water for softening and thermal desalination to produce a brine by-product.
Treatment of cooling-tower blowdown water via thermal desalination, followed by mixing reject water with produced water and softening the mixture to yield a brine by-product.
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