Hydrocarbon production generates aqueous effluents that may contain traces of either hydrocarbon or chemical products, which have to be eliminated according to regulations and to the operator's policy, to reduce the potential impact of their discharge on the environment. These waters could also contain a large amount of salt. The aim of this work is to evaluate the feasibility of the biotreatment of saline (200 g/L TDS) produced water. A Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR), a trickling filter and a chemostat reactor were compared in terms of total organic carbon (TOC) removal. Results pointed out the biodegradability of the produced water containing high concentration of salt. However continuous operation with SBR could lead to a loss of biomass. TOC removal in the SBR is higher than in trickling filter or chemostat reactor.

Keywords:
produced water discharge, toc concentration, reactor, Inhibition, water management, feasibility, SBR, sludge, Upstream Oil & Gas, technical feasibility
Subjects:
Environment, Water use, produced water discharge and disposal
Copyright 2006, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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