Saudi Aramco’s Hybrid Flotation Upgrade: Achieving Sustainable Water-Handling in Oil Fields

The efficient management of increasing water cuts in oil fields is crucial for maintaining profitability and minimizing environmental impact. This article showcases a detailed case study by Saudi Aramco that focuses on integrating hybrid flotation technology into a gravity water/oil separator (WOSEP) to improve deoiling efficiency and reduce operational costs and carbon emissions.

Petroleum production facilities are facing mounting challenges with the rising water-production rates in crude-oil extraction, particularly in waterflooding operations for secondary oil recovery. This has led to increased operational costs and environmental concerns related to energy consumption and carbon emissions in water-handling processes.

In response to these challenges, Saudi Aramco embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to improve water-deoiling efficiency by incorporating hybrid flotation technology into a conventional gravity WOSEP system. The retrofit involved combining enhanced gravity separation with induced gas flotation (IGF) in a single vessel, resulting in significant enhancements in deoiling capacity, reduction in oil-in-water content, and improved operational efficiency.

The methodology for the upgrade process began with evaluating the existing WOSEP system and identifying operational challenges that needed to be addressed. The case study offers a detailed analysis of the design, implementation, and outcomes of this innovative project, providing valuable insights for the wider petroleum industry. This integration of hybrid flotation systems provides valuable guidance for similar initiatives in the petroleum industry.