Downhole Oil Water Separation?

[SuckerRod]

Greetings!

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about Downhole Oil/Water Separation (DOWS)? I have found a few companies that manufacture pumps for this operation, but I want to know some of the drawbacks/problems of using these dual pumps.

The company I am looking at very closely is Quinn Pumps:

http://www.quinnpumps.com/water_disposal.htm

I'm working on a field that produces roughly 50 bpd of oil, but about 10 times that much in water. Additionally, if we could figure out how to handle more water, we could produce more oil (the volume of water being the current limiting factor).

DOWS seems like a novel idea, saving energy by not pumping ALL of the water to the surface.

While you do have to use two pumps, there must be another catch, or else the technology would be more prevelant.

Your comments/experiences are much appreciated!

Regards,

SuckerRod

 

[ARCH01]

I think the main problem is what to do with the separated water. Water will tend to displace any further oil that is trying to get into wellbore. Perhaps if after separating the water it could be directed into a specific disposal zone this will be a fantastic idea. The other concern is that the water will contain some oil that you will not recover. Hydrocyclones might help here. They are small and use centrifugal forces for separating the water. You will need to watch for sand as it will erode the cyclones. If emulsion is tight you might need to add chemicals. I could see the value of such a technology for free water separation.

 

[Muggle]

I suggest you contact Ed Gardyne at Codyne in Aberdeen,Scotland - produced water treatment techniques, etc. - as they deal with the off-shore rigs, etc. Can probably help you with what to look at. All the majore oil companies are out of Scotland - handling the North Sea production.
DAve/Aquatic Technologies

 

[SuckerRod]

Thanks for the responses. I am not really looking at off-shore operations, though.

I'll check them out anyway!

Regards,

SuckerRod

 

[JAFCO]

There has been lots of work done with constant flow pumping sytems (ESP's and PCP's) and downhole hydrocyclone separation systems, these configurations work well if there is good size casing =>7" and separate disposal zones within the wellbore. I know Centrilift was working on this and had both ESP and PCP applications working

 

[dadfap]

DOWS were being touted as a fix for environments that had water handling constraints on surface a few years ago.
They have not been the runaway success that everyone hoped for, principally because few operators took the time to properly study and evaluate the disposal zone.
The hydrocyclone technology is, in principa, effective when used with downhole pumps. They have production constraints principally because of the number of bypass lines that needed to be housed in the hydrocyclone housing.

 

[cesarcf1977]

Take a look at

http://www.cfertech.com.

I think they're working on this.

Regards.