Saudi Arabian Oil Company

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Fahd Ibrahim Alghunaimi

Tawfik Abdo Saleh

Regis Didier Alain Vilagines

Young Chul Choi

Norah W Aljuryyed

Hind Saleh Aldossary

Tao Chen

Abdullah A Alomier

Guillaume Robert Jean-Francois Raynel

Nadeem Baig

Mohammed Abudullah Bataweel

Olanrewaju Malcolm Oshinowo

Eyad Alali

Hasan Al Abdulgader

Mustafa Alkhowaildi

Duaa J Al Saeed

Jian Hou

Nahr M Abulhamayel

Sultan S AlOtaibi

Mona Saad Dossary

Abadi A Mutairi

Tianpiang Huang

Khalid A Al-Harbi

A method for removing sulfates from seawater by immersing a barium adsorbent into produced water to adsorb the barium ions from the produced water. The adsorbent is combined with an acidic solution that pulls the barium ions into the acidic solution. The acidic solution containing barium ions is combined with seawater to precipitate the sulfate as barium sulfate (BaSO).

Methods of recovering barium from produced water to remove sulfates in seawater for oilfield applications

A method of desulfating seawater includes adding a produced water to a sulfated seawater, forming a first precipitate, separating the first precipitate from the sulfated seawater, measuring the sulfate ion concentration of the desulfated seawater, adding a precipitating agent to the sulfated seawater, and separating a second precipitate from the sulfated seawater. Another method of desulfating seawater includes determining concentrations of sulfates in a sulfated seawater and a precipitating agent in a produced water, adding the produced water to the sulfated seawater based on the determined concentrations of sulfates in the sulfated seawater and the precipitating agent in the produced water, forming a first precipitate, separating the first precipitate from the sulfated seawater, measuring the sulfate ion concentration of the desulfated seawater, adding a precipitating agent to a sulfated seawater, and separating a second precipitate from the sulfated seawater.

Method of sulfate removal from seawater using high salinity produced water

A dendrimeric carbon dot-polyamide membrane, a method for making the dendrimeric carbon dot-polyamide membrane, and a method for producing purified water are provided. An exemplary carbon dot-polyamide membrane includes polyamidoamine dendrimeric carbon dots and a polyamide membrane. The polyamidoamine dendrimeric dots are dispersed throughout the polyamide membrane.

Dendrimeric carbon dot-polyamide membranes

A process of treating nano-filtration membrane retentate comprises introducing seawater comprising a sulfate ion concentration of greater than or equal to 3000 mg/l to the NF membrane to produce a retentate stream and a permeate stream, wherein the retentate stream has a sulfate ion concentration greater than or equal to 10,000 mg/l, and mixing barium additives comprising barium chloride dehydrate (BaClHO), barium chloride (BaCl), or both with the retentate stream to precipitate sulfate from the retentate stream to form barite (BaSO) and reduce the sulfate ion concentration, wherein the barium additives are added into the retentate stream at a barium ion concentration of greater than 10,000 mg/l.

Method to treat nano-filtration membrane retentate for reuse in fracturing and drilling applications

A method for using produced water (PW), for example, for use in a fracturing fluid. The method includes performing ultrafiltration on the PW to form filtered PW, filtering seawater (SW) to form filtered SW, and blending the filtered PW with the filtered SW to form an aqueous blend.

Water mixture for fracturing application

An oil-water separation system including a vessel for receiving an oil-water mixture and passing a treated water having a lower concentration of oil than the oil-water mixture. The system further includes a first overflow baffle for directing the oil-water mixture fluid flow over the first overflow baffle, and a first underflow baffle positioned downstream along a fluid flow pathway of the first overflow baffle for directing the oil-water mixture fluid flow under the first underflow baffle, and a second overflow baffle positioned downstream along the fluid flow pathway of the first underflow baffle having a mesh with a plurality of perforations which directs fluid flow over the second overflow baffle and through the plurality of perforations. The second overflow baffle permits a water portion of the oil-water mixture to traverse through the mesh and an oil portion of the oil-water mixture to traverse over the mesh.

Oil-water separation system using hydrophobic/hydrophilic materials for capacity increase and improving produced water quality

Provided is a composition that may include an alkylamine modified graphene having a formula R[—CH-alkylamine)], where R is a graphene core, [—CH-alkylamine)] is an alkylamine functional group, and x is a non-zero integer. The alkylamine functional group may include [—CH-n-propylamine)], [—CH-n-hexylamine)], or [—CH-n-dodecylamine)]. Trace amounts of an oxygen and nitrogen functional group may be coupled to the graphene core. Further provided is a method that may include introducing alkylamine modified graphene into a hydrocarbon-contaminated water. The method may further include separating a hydrocarbon-absorbed alkylamine modified graphene from the recovered water. Further provided is a system that may include a holding tank, a pump, a membrane housing, and a collection tank. The membrane housing may include membranes and a filtration media.

Graphene modified with linear alkylamines for oil removal from produced water

A system and method for generating base water and precipitate, including combining produced water with seawater to precipitate barium sulfate from barium in the produced water and from sulfate in the seawater, and separating the precipitate to give the base water and the precipitate. The base water may have less than a specified amount of sulfate and be utilized for hydraulic fracturing fluid. The precipitate may give a weighting agent for drilling.

Production of barium sulfate and fracturing fluid via mixing of produced water and seawater

A system and method for generating water concentrated in calcium bromide from produced water, to provide for drilling fluid having the calcium bromide. The technique includes flowing the produced water through a bed of ion-exchange resin to sorb bromide ions from the produced water onto the ion-exchange resin, and then regenerating the ion-exchange resin to desorb the bromide ions for combination with calcium ions to acquire an aqueous solution with calcium and bromide.

Forming drilling fluid from produced water

Composite materials for removing hydrophobic components from a fluid include a porous matrix polymer, carbon nanotubes grafted to surfaces of the porous matrix polymer, and polystyrene chains grafted to the carbon nanotubes. Examples of porous matrix polymer include polyurethanes, polyethylenes, and polypropylenes. Membranes of the composite material may be enclosed within a fluid-permeable pouch to form a fluid treatment apparatus, such that by contacting the apparatus with a fluid mixture containing water and a hydrophobic component, the hydrophobic component absorbs selectively into the membrane. The apparatus may be removed from the fluid mixture and reused after the hydrophobic component is expelled from the membrane. The composite material may be prepared by grafting functionalized carbon nanotubes to a porous matrix polymer to form a polymer-nanotube composite, then polymerizing styrene onto the carbon nanotubes of the polymer-nanotube composite.

Composite material for removal of hydrophobic components from fluid mixtures

Systems and methods include a Gas and Oil Separation Plant (GOSP)-embedded treatment system for recycling desalter wash water. The system includes: 1) an inlet system providing an inlet stream of desalter water effluent received from at least one desalter of a source; 2) a filtering system in the GOSP including a nanofiltration (NF) membrane configured to filter the desalter water effluent to attain filtered desalter water effluent within a pre-determined wash water threshold for wash water reuse, including: partially desalinating the desalter water effluent to attain a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of the desalter water effluent within a pre-determined TDS threshold; and 3) a pump system configured to pump the desalter water effluent through the NF membrane and pump the filtered desalter water effluent to a supply line of the desalter.

Treating desalter water effluent for wash water reuse in a GOSP using a ceramic nanofiltration membrane

Separators for separating a multi-phase composition include a separator casing defining a chamber and a permeate outlet, at least one hydrocyclone within the separator casing, and at least one ceramic membrane. Each hydrocyclone includes a hydrocyclone inlet, a tapered section downstream of the hydrocyclone inlet, an accepted outlet, and a reject outlet. The ceramic membrane may be disposed within the separator casing and downstream of the accepted outlet of the hydrocyclone or may be disposed within at least a portion of the tapered section of the hydrocyclone. The ceramic membrane includes a retentate side and a permeate side, where the permeate side is in fluid communication with the chamber. Systems and methods for separating a multi-phase composition into a lesser-density fluid, a greater-density fluid, and a medium-density fluid using the separators are also disclosed.

Hydrocyclone systems and methods for separating multi-phase compositions

Disclosed is a copper coated stainless-steel hydrophobic mesh and a method for synthesizing the hydrophobic mesh. In the method, a stainless-steel mesh is sonicated in a solution of acetone and ethanol, and then electroplated in a copper solution to form a copper coating on the surface of the mesh. The copper-coated stainless-steel mesh is treated with an oxidizing solution having an oxidizing potential applied to it. The mesh is then washed with water and dried. The copper-coated stainless-steel mesh is then immersed in a lauric acid solution. The mesh is then rinsed with ethanol to remove adsorbed lauric acid. After drying, the so-synthesized copper-coated stainless-steel hydrophobic mesh is characterized in that it has hydrophobic branches of lauric acid.

Hydrophobic stainless-steel copper-coated mesh and method of synthesizing same

Systems and methods for separating multi-phase compositions

Adsorbent polymeric structures are described. These adsorbent polymeric structures are capable of separating non-polar hydrocarbons, such as crude oil or diesel fuel, from polar liquids, such as water. The adsorbent polymeric structures may include acid grafted graphene and at least one styrene. A method of preparing an adsorbent polymeric structure may include mixing graphene and at least one acid catalyst in a polar liquid in the presence of at least one alcohol to form an acid grafted graphene via an esterification reaction; and the acid grafted graphene and at least one styrene monomer are introduced to water in the presence of an initiator to form the adsorbent polymeric structure according to any of the previously-described embodiments via an emulsion polymerization reaction. Moreover, the adsorbent polymeric structures may be incorporated into methods of fluidly separating at least one non-polar hydrocarbon from a polar liquid.

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Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Fahd Ibrahim Alghunaimi