HPD and Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies take the next step forward in the integration of produced water treatment and steam generation for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations
The Water and Steam Production (WSP™) Process for SAGD
Challenges in Enhanced Oil Recovery Operations
There is an important link between water treatment and steam generation in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations.
Unfortunately, these two critical elements in EOR face unique challenges that often conflict with one another. This can lead to system inefficiency with higher operating and capital costs.
HPD and Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies take the next step forward to bridge the gap between produced water treatment and steam generation by integrating them into one step with the WSP Process.
Click here to download The WSP™ Technology Data Sheet (484 kb)
The WSP Process Provides Several Key Benefits to Heavy Oil Producers:
- Transfers all of the heat from steam generation into the well, resulting in reduced fuel consumption
- Eliminates continuous OTSG / boiler blowdown equipment, allowing a simple design and less capital cost
- Reduces water treatment plant size and operating cost
- Increases distillate purity by utilizing a vapor purifier in the evaporation process to allow for increased cycles of concentration in the boiler
- Provides for a simple, robust, highly efficient solution to water treatment and steam generation for EOR
Transfer All of the Heat Into the Well
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Process Comparison
Efficient Process to Maximize Steam Generation
WSP is a proprietary, evaporation-based water treatment system integrated with steam generation in produced water applications. This new process utilizes 100% of the heat input into the steam generator feedwater for oil recovery, produces 98% quality steam for downhole injection, and eliminates continuous blowdown from the OTSG or water tube / drum boiler.
WSP utilizes several simple components which result in significant process improvements with the proven reliability necessary for heavy oil applications.
Compared to conventional produced water treatment, such as warm lime softening with ion exchange or standard evaporation, the WSP process provides an effective, robust system that reduces capital and operating costs for EOR water treatment and steam generation.
Elimination of Continuous Blowdown Treatment
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Steam generator with no blowdown
Heat Transfer Efficiency
The heat from the recycle in steam generation is not fully recovered for beneficial use in conventional water treatment processes. Glycol cooling is a required step and fuel is not efficiently utilized for EOR operations.
The WSP process uses internal recirculation in the OTSG or boiler that returns high-pressure, high-purity condensate back to the inlet of the steam generator, thereby losing no heat in the process. The flow diagram is illustrated in Figure 1.
The WSP process prevents solids accumulation in the boiler by injecting a liquid stream that is comprised of less than 2% of the steam flow into the steam discharge. This heat is used for EOR.
Less Capital Cost with WSP
No continuous, high-pressure OTSG heat recovery system is required using the WSP process. Traditional processes utilizing an OTSG require high-pressure / high-temperature recycle handling and heat transfer equipment to recycle 20%-25% of the OTSG feedwater back to the water treatment plant. If a packaged boiler is used, as in the case of conventional evaporation, a recycle and heat recovery system is required for the blowdown.
The water treatment plant size will be significantly smaller than current processes as there is no requirement to treat blowdown with the WSP process. This will also decrease capital costs for the overall water treatment and steam generation system.