Hydrocyclone Separation in Combination with Mature Separation Techniques to Treat Produced Water

Existing produced water treatment technologies were analyzed, and a modular and small-footprint treatment train centered around hydrocyclone separation is proposed to meet clean brine specifications requested by the Produced Water Society. Bench scale testing is used to verify the performance of this system, finding a 14:1 flow split (oil rich: solids rich) in the hydrocyclone was optimal. An economic analysis was done to verify the feasibility of scale up. Typical produced water treatment techniques have a cost between 6 and 60 per cubic meter and this proposed treatment has an estimated cost of $4 per cubic meter.