Utilization of Co-Produced Water from Oil Production: Energy Generation Case Available to Purchase

Co-produced water resources in oil & gas fields raise technological interest under the condition of increased energy demand and carbon dioxide emission reduction. Primarily the development of medium and low-temperature co-produced water resources are discussed in terms of energy production and further utilization in the downstream facilities of petroleum industry. Addition of the Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) as a compact binary power plant to the existing scheme allows harvesting a great portion of energy that is usually lost as waste heat. This additional system does not interrupt the main facility streams and operational parameters. The simple case with R134a refrigerant was numerically explored for the wide range of co-produced water flow rates and temperatures. The results show that with the increase of water production the power generation is increased up to 1 MW at 50,000 BWPD and 275°F water temperature. The economic evaluation shows that the Levelized cost of electricity falls lower than 1.5 cents/kW. With using the proposed scheme on the production facility, the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions can drop up to 500lb. per operational hour comparing with traditional gas turbine station.